That Night, Through My Eyes
by RGZ Archer
Summary: Follow up of my first story, A Valentine's Day to Remember. Covers the events of the sleep over from four different individuals. Rika, Takato and Guilmon have told their said, but now its time for the final chapter. Renamon!
1. Her Dilemma

That night, through my eyes

Her Dilemma

AN: Well it's me again, the guy who wrote that horrible Valentine's day story last month with the cross biomerging. I hope that this story is better…received and just all around better. I've gone back and made some corrections to 'A Valentine's Day to Remember' so it's more reader friendly (though it still has the underlined parts). Now, this story will be four chapters long, each telling the events of the night Rika stayed over at Takato's, and what happened, (hence the title) Now, please bare with me, as this is only my second attempt at writing a Digimon fic, and my second, possibly third (depending on your point of view) attempt at something with fluff of any sort. I have some plans for what happened the day after, as well as the 'date' that followed. Also, I intend to clear up some other things (the cross biomerging and Hazard flash) in the last one to make for a better story overall. Now, with that out of the way, onwards to the story! Oh, and before I forget, I have a poll set up on my profile, if those of you who read this would be as so kind to vote it would help with a…disagreement with a fellow fan of the Digimon series greatly. Thank you.

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon, I own a DVD set of it now (03, the best season ever) but that's it. Digimon and its characters are the property of Bandi Namco Entertainment.

"Matsuki family bakery," Rika read the sign under her breath.

It was a place she found herself becoming increasingly familiar with as of late. Though it was not the smallest of the Tamer's dwellings (that was Henry's) it was a close second. Yet, it was here that the Tamer's would meet up most frequently, aside from the park hideout of course.

A little over an hour ago, she and one of her fellow Tamer's had dealt with three bioemergences, and a rather…unique situation. Due to a freak accident, she had biomerged with Guilmon, while her partner had merged with Takato Matsuki, her friend, and in this case, her only hope of 'escape'. The experience had been mostly an annoyance, but it had provided her with some insight into the goggle wearing teen.

She had hoped to learn a bit more from Renamon, but the vulpine warrior had been fairly tightlipped on the subject, only responding with a silent stare, or replying 'Nothing important'.

"Ugh, where is he? Don't tell me he got lost just trying to get to his own house," Rika groaned, but with noticeably less venom than she would have a few years earlier.

"He is getting close Rika, I can hear him now."

Rika looked up at her partner with a quirked brow.

"Gallantmon's armor is not exactly suited for stealth, nor was it designed with speed in mind."

Rika's eyebrow rose slightly higher, and was now accompanied by a small smirk. "Renamon, was that a joke?"

The yellow fox was about to reply when a series of heavy clunking footfalls cut her off.

"**Ok, here is good,"** Gallantmon said stepping around the corner and nearly knocking Rika to the ground.

"Hey! Watch it Gogglehead!"

"**Huh? Oh, sorry Rika!"**

A bright red flash filled the area for a brief second before fading into nothingness, leaving behind a somewhat confused red dinosaur and a very frightened teen in its place.

"What took you so long? We've been waiting out here for almost ten minutes!" Rika Hissed.

"S-sorry Rika, but we, we got a little turned around. It's not like I could just run down the sidewalk or across the street." Takato defended.

"_I hate to admit it, but he's right. If normal people saw Gallantmon running around the streets they'd be terrified, and if any of the others saw him, it would be a little hard to explain…."_

"How'd you get here so fast anyway? Renamon poof you the whole way?"

At this the yellow fox stepped forward.

"No, I have not used Kohenkyo since before the battle with the MetalMamamon. Rika ran on her own, while I used the roof tops to avoid drawing attention to myself."

Takato's face showed genuine shock.

"You mean you ran the entire way? All the way from the park, to my place?"

Rika nodded smugly.

"And you're perfectly fine? You don't feel like, dropping dead or coughing up a lung?" Takao asked suspiciously.

Rika's face, while at first smirking, quickly switched to her usual mask of annoyance, with just a touch of hurt.

"What? You don't think I could do it just because I'm a girl?" She asked accusingly.

Takato raised his hands in defense.

"No! No! Nothing like that! I was just surprised, that's all….You're in really good shape."

Turning on her heel to hide the subtle tint on her cheeks, Rika faced the bakery before responding.

"So how do we explain this to your parents? It can't be too often that you have company stay overnight," Rika asked/stated to change the subject as she walked towards the small business.

"Hey! That's not true. Henry's been here a couple of times, and me Kazu and Kenta had a few video game tournaments that lasted through till morning. Even Jeri stayed over the night after we took down the D-Reaper."

Rika stopped in her tracks and spun to face the boy with a glare.

"Oh? And let me guess, Mr. Perfect spends every weekend here too right?

A small part of her enjoyed seeing the Tamer's unofficial 'leader' jump then squirm under her gaze, but another part felt guilty, while a third part felt slightly hurt for some reason.

"I..uh…no. Ryo's never even been here before. At least I don't think he has. You two are the only ones that haven't….well, unless you count Suzi, Ai and Marko, they haven't either, but they have stopped by to pick up bread with their parents a few times in the," Rika, knowing that she had forced him to mode change into 'Takatomon babble mode' as Terriermon called it, cut him off.

"Look, I'm _really_, really tired. I haven't eaten anything since lunch, and I just want to call it a night. So, could you please cut the useless chit chat and get this over with?"

Since she was pinching her nose at the time, Rika missed the hurt expression that flashed across the boys face. When she opened her eyes all she saw was his usual goofy smile and him scratching the back of his head nervously.

"Sorry about that. I guess I got a bit carried away." Looking over at Renamon, he scratched his chin.

"Can you…uhh…can you pretend that you were hurt? Or that you're tired?"

Renamon was about to reply when Rika cut in.

"Just act like you would after being around Terriermon all day."

The effect was immediate. The yellow fox's shoulders slumped and her face became so devoid of emotion that it was hard to tell if she was sleep walking, or just very tired. Also, while he wasn't sure due to the lack of light, Takato could have sworn that her fur actually changed from its usual glossy yellow to a dull bland shade.

"That good enough?"

Takato snickered before nodding. "Yeah, she looks like she went ten rounds with Beezlemon."

"Uh, Gogglehead, we just got back from a big battle remember? Can you act at least a little tired?"

Stopping for a moment, Takato slumped his shoulders and ruffled his hair a bit. He also made sure to rumple his clothes a little to make it look like he had just come out of a fight.

"_Huh, he's actually pretty good at this. I wonder where…,"_

"Just don't tell my mom we were in any danger ok? She gets a bit…well, you remember how she is," Takato said frowning slightly before turning back towards his home.

"You coming or what?" He called out over his shoulder.

"Come on Renamon," Rika said before feeling a paw come to rest on her shoulder.

"Something wrong?"

Renamon shook her head. "No, nothing is wrong Rika, but you might want to give him….a little break. He did open up his home to us for the night, and has offered you safe haven from tomorrow, has he not?"

"Safe haven? Renamon, it's not like I'm being hunted or anything. Besides, you heard him yourself. Everyone else has already spent the night here before, and I've been here plenty of times before. It's no big deal."

"Maybe, maybe not. Just remember, he offered, and you accepted. What you said about being here before is true, but keep in mind that this is the first time you were ever _invited_."

"_What is she talking about? I haven't been that rude. Sure, I snapped at him a little back there, but it's not like I meant anything of it, he knows that right?"_

Shrugging, Rika and Renamon walked to the bakery.

"Really? Then where is she? If what you're saying is true then why are you by yourself? I told you that dinner is at eight o'clock unless there is an emergency!"

"Mom! I'm telling you, it's true!"

"Excuse me, Miss Matsuki?"

Said woman looked up and was surprised to see Rika and a very worn out Renamon standing in her doorway.

"Rika? So then…it was true?"

Doing a complete one eighty, the woman quickly moved towards the young girl with a worried expression on her face.

"Are you ok? We have a first aid kit in the back," Rika shook her head slowly before letting out a tired yawn (on cue).

"I'm fine Mrs. Matsuki. Just a bit tired…." Her stomach decided to make its presence known at this time with a weak, but still audible growl.

Cheeks tinting slightly pink, the girl clutched her stomach.

"And a little hungry."

The older woman smiled warmly before turning to the girl's partner.

"What about you? Are you ok?"

Renamon nodded her head slowly before speaking.

"I am…fine. I just need to rest for a little while."

"I understand, how long do you need, and hour? Two?"

"_Great, so much for getting out of tomorrow. Thanks a lot Gogglehead. I was almost home, then I ran all the way here, now I have to go back home after wasting an hour just to cover for him. Ugh, I'll be lucky to get an hour of sleep tonight."_

Imagine her surprise when she saw Renamon lifting her arm to shake in dismissal, only to sway for a moment before leaning heavily against the counter, even to the point of gripping it with both arms to prop herself up.

"I..am…sorry, but I think that…I think that I might need a bit longer than that."

"_Since when did Renamon become such a good actor?"_

"Mom, me and Guilmon found them a few blocks from here. During the fight she was dedigivolved, I saw it with my own eyes. The only time that happens is if they're caught off guard, or if they're completely exhausted."

"_Hmm, not bad Takato. Throwing out little bits of what happened with random facts, while not telling the whole story. It's not lying, but it's still pretty sneaky. Who knew he had it in him?"_

"Well….we don't have much room Takato, you know that," his mother said casting a sideways glace at Rika, one that the girl didn't like, but chose to ignore for now.

"It's ok mom. I can sleep on the couch, and I bet our carpet is softer than the hideouts concrete floor," Takato offered, hinting at Guilmon.

As Rika watched the exchange between mother and son, she couldn't help but feel some animosity being sent her way, but she wasn't sure why. Before anything serious could happen however, someone upstairs decided to take mercy on her.

"Takato, why don't you give me a hand in helping your friend upstairs? She looks like she's about to pass out."

Rika stepped aside as Takato and his father each took a side, and helped her 'exhausted' partner upstairs, leaving her alone with the boys mother.

"Ok, tell me exactly what happened. My son has told me plenty about you, and between what he's said and what I know for myself, you're not exactly the type to run away from a fight, even if you should."

Rika, though caught off guard by the woman's ability to switch moods on the fly, kept her cool as she responded.

"There was a bioemergence, me and Renamon went to take care of it. The fight got ugly, but we won. Then some Mega comes out of nowhere making me and Renamon run until we could come up with a plan. I guess we were lucky that Takato found us," Rika said with a shrug.

"And what exactly happened to this, Mega?"

Rika's face went from passive to a small smile. "Takato and Guilmon made it go away."

The older woman narrowed here eyes suspiciously, causing Rika to throw up a distraction to get the woman off her case.

"Look, past aside, I'm not going to do anything that would put me or any of my friends in danger. I will run if I have to. I know my limits, and I know what Renamon is capable of. Ask Takato if you don't believe me, even he wouldn't let Guilmon fight a full power Mega if he just got finished with a fight, no matter how small it was."

The woman, while skeptical knew that what the girl was saying was true, so she had no other choice than to accept it.

Deciding to try and change the subject, while at the same time take care of something else Rika asked the question she had been dreading since this whole plan had been put into motion.

"Excuse me, but if it's not too much trouble, could I use your phone to call my Grandmother? She's probably worried about me, and I need to let her know that I'll be staying here tonight. That is, if it's ok with you."

"Of course, the phone is over there. I'll see if I can find anything for to eat," the older woman said as she returned to the kitchen.

Rika let out a sigh of relief when the woman left, and picked up the phone off the wall.

Dialing her home number, Rika waited as the phone rang once, twice, three times before it was finally answered.

"Hello, Takato, is that you? Have you seen Rika?"

Rika blinked for a moment before remembering that they had a caller ID, so of course her grandmother would know where she was calling form.

"Um, actually Grandma, it's me."

"Rika?! Do you have any idea how worried I've been? I was just about to call the police!"

Rika took a deep breath to calm herself. If she wanted this to work she had to keep her cool.

"I know, I'm sorry Grandma, I'm really sorry, but something came up and I couldn't call you until just now."

"What happened? Rika, are you ok? You're not hurt are you?"

Rika did feel pretty bad about worrying her Grandmother, but at the same time she knew that she would agree with her later. For now though, she had to make her act sell.

"No grandma, I'm fine, just a little tired, and a bit shook up. There was a group of bioemergences that came though all at once, then after dealing with them we came across a Mega, but everything's ok now, Takato showed up and helped take care of it."

"Well that's a relief; I know that you're strong dear, but I still worry about you. It's very dangerous what you're out there doing."

"I know grandma, but…this is my job. I have to help out, besides, the others are always there right?" Rika said, trying to steer the conversation into more cheerful waters.

"Yes, you have strong friends Rika, something I am very thankful for…but why are you calling from the Matsuki's? Rika, you know that your mother's flight is due soon, and you need to be here."

Rika bit her tongue before she vented any. Now was not the time.

"Yeah….about that. See, after everything settled down I kind of ended up on the other side of town, and Renamon's too tired to make it back tonight."

"I see, and as late as it is now, it wouldn't be a very good idea for you to walk back home on your own. Where are you planning on staying the night?"

Rika took a deep breath.

"_Ok Rika, its show time."_

"Well, about that, Takato's parents said I could stay here tonight, but only if I got your permission first, sooo," Rika left the sentence hanging.

"I guess its ok for you to stay there, as long as it's ok with his parents. But you need to be here pretty early tomorrow. Your mother wants you to meet," for the first time she could remember in her life, Rika cut her grandmother off.

"I can't."

_Silence_

"Rika, you know how important this is to your mother."

Shutting her eyes tightly, Rika's grip on the phone tightened until her knuckles turned white.

"Please, please don't make me. It's always the same, every time. What is this? The fourth one?" Rika's voice was borderline peeved, but there was a desperate undertone as well that she knew her Grandmother would pick up on.

"You know your mother is just trying to look out for you. She wants to make sure you don't."

"Make the same mistakes she did, I know. But I don't need her help, especially not with _that_. If I ever make that choice, it will be mine and not hers." Rika hissed.

"You can't keep putting it off. You know how your mother is."

Chuckling, Rika shook her head ruefully.

"I know, but right now that's the last thing I want to think about. Please, just, just tell her that Renamon needs to rest. We'll be back as soon as she's recovered."

"Which will be around mid Sunday, isn't that right?"

"What? Yes, I mean, no!"

"_I messed up! Come on, if anyone can hear this up there, someone please give me a break, just for once in my life!"_ Rika pleaded mentally.

"Young lady, it might have been quite a few years ago, but I was your age at one time."

"I.."

"So don't worry. I will explain it to your mother when she arrives."

"Thanks Grandma," Rika was surprised when she was cut off by the older woman.

"Oh don't thank me; I intend to collect on this in the future young lady. But if you really want your mother to stop _looking_ for you, you need to look for yourself. In fact, while you're there with that nice young lad."

Rika, now redder than her own hair sputtered.

"GRANDMA!"

The older Nonaka chuckled before saying goodbye and hanging up.

"Uh, Rika, are you ok?"

Jumping at feeling someone touch her shoulder, Rika spun around quickly to face whoever it was.

"Yes!" Seeing the boy's worried face, and remembering Renamon's advice, she sighed before speaking again.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Grandma just has a way of bringing up certain things…at bad times," Rika said lamely.

"Man, I'll say. You're as red as Guilmon. Whatever she said must have upset you pretty bad."

Silently thanking her ancestors or whatever higher beings existed for Takato denseness, Rika sighed again to cover her relief.

"It's ok; she said I can stay for the night."

"Oh, well that's good right? Mission accomplished," Takato said smiling nervously.

"Looks like it," Rika replied before noticing the way her friend was acting. "Are you ok?"

For the first time since nearly running her over, Rika got a good look at the boys face. Though his expression was mostly happy, she could see a just a little bit of fear flashing across his eyes as well as a hint of red on his cheeks.

"_If I didn't know any better, I'd say that he was…blushing?"_

"Huh? Oh, yeah I'm fine. Dad was just giving me a hard time, that's all."

"Your dad was teasing you? Why?" Rika asked, confused at why the man would have teased his son, since the two always seemed to get along so well.

At this the boys face turned an even deeper shade of red.

"It's not important….just….don't worry about it. If he says anything, just ignore it."

"Kids! Dinner!"

Both Takato and Rika's stomachs growled, as if to remind them that it had been close to nine hours since they ate.

"Coming mom!" Takato shouted, running towards the kitchen area with a confused Rika in tow.

Rika ate the dinner (which had obviously been reheated) in silence. Takato's mother had left after putting the plates down, and his father soon followed, but not until after whispering something to his son causing him to turn bright red and almost choke on his dinner.

"_Ok, something's up. I've only seen him turn that red twice since we met."_

Still not moving from her seat, Rika raised an eyebrow as she lowered her chopsticks.

"Are you ok?"

Still sputtering, Takato tried to respond as he continued choking. A powerful slap, courtesy of Guilmon (which caused a small chunk of noodle to fly across the table and almost land on her plate) ended the sputtering.

"Sorry! I just."

"Almost choked to death on a piece of old noodle? Yeah, I can see that," Rika teased.

The boy tinged pink and looked away, but Rika still caught his expression.

"For god's sakes Gogglehead, what's wrong with you? You're acting like Ryo every time Kazu's around. Why are you so jittery?" (1)

"I..uh…just..nothing, don't worry about it."

Creasing her brow, Rika forced in another mouthful of lukewarm noodles as she tried to sort what was happening.

"_Something's wrong with him, but what is it? He's been off all day actually….ARGH! I'm no good with this kind of thing! Where's Jeri when you need her! She always knows what's wrong with him…no! No Jeri! I'm his friend; I've known him just as long as she has, so I should be able to figure this out."_

Taking another few mouthfuls, she ran over what she knew.

"_Ok, he was fidgety all day, especially at lunch, then when I was going to go home he came up with the first plan, then we dealt with the MetalMamamon, then he came up with this plan, he goes with his dad and comes back acting even weirder, then his dad said something to make him almost choke to death….GAGAAAAAAA! I'm a fighter not a psychologist!"_

"Rika? Is the food alright? I know my mom makes the stuff a little hot sometimes, but I didn't think you had a problem with spicy food?"

Pulled out of her thoughts Rika looked across the table.

"What?"

"Your face was all scrunched up; I thought maybe you didn't like spicy food or something."

"_Crud he's on to me! Quick Rika, think of something, anything!" _Not able to come up with anything decent, she threw out the first thing that came to mind.

"No it's fine. I was just…thinking about…today…"

Takato's face seemed to darken slightly as he responded. "Oh….yeah, I guess that would make you pretty upset."

After several minutes of extremely uncomfortable silence, Takato tried to speak up.

"So, uh…you…want any seconds? I think we still got some more if you're still hungry."

Setting her chopsticks down, Rika shook her head. "I'm fine, I just want to take a…" Rika groaned before slamming her head on the table.

"Rika! Are you ok?!" Takato shouted as he ran around to her side of the table.

With a groan Rika looked up at the boy, clearly irritated.

"A shower," she said deadpan.

"What?!"

"A shower Gogglehead. I've been wearing these clothes all day, and between running around the park, then all the way back here…." Rika let out another long groan as she dropped her head onto the table.

"We-we well, uh…you…you could, I mean, we have extra towels and stuff, so," Takato's sputtering was brought to a quick halt by a pair of angry violet orbs.

"Aren't you forgetting something? Something important!?"

Seeing the boy's blank look, Rika groaned again.

"_Geeze how can anyone be that dense! It isn't rocket science!"_ Rika thought as she trembled slightly out of irritation.

"Clothes! Clothes Gogglehead! What am I supposed to wear? I'm not going to take a shower just so I can put these back on to sleep in!"

Takato blinked, then turned fire engine red before stuttering.

"You-well, there is-I mean, you could-if you, wanted that is, I mean."

Rika's shoulders slumped as she lowered her head to the table and gently taped it several times.

"_This whole day has been nothing but one punch to the gut after another. Curse you Jeri! I knew I shouldn't have gotten out of bed this morning!"_

In a rare moment of weakness, the girl let out a shuddered breath. Not quite crying, but it was as close as you could get without actually tears.

"Why? Why does everything have to be so freaking hard? I don't ask for much, so why do I always get even less?" She asked softly.

Hearing movement behind her, Rika flinched when she heard Takato clearing his throat, and looked up with tired, weakened eyes.

"As long as you don't have a problem with it, I've got a spare gym uniform you could wear, and..well…Jeri left some spare clothes here in case she had another….well, you know."

Rika's exhausted mind caught bits and pieces of what he was saying and tried to put it together as best it could. Unfortunately she only picked up on a few key words.

"_Jeri left spare cloths here? Why?"_ Rika felt a mix of anger and relief at the same time.

Sighing, Rika got up and took her plate to the sink. "It can't be any worse than wearing these to sleep. Come on."

"Huh? Me? Where?"

"I'm not digging through your closet," Rika explained as she dragged the boy upstairs to where she knew his room to be.

Opening the door, Rika was surprised by what she saw.

The room was just as small as she remembered it, but that was the only thing that was the same as it had been all those years ago.

Renamon looked up from the bottom bunk on the right side of the room, but there was not enough light for Rika to read her expression. The left side of the room was a large closet, and in the middle, right under the room's only window, was a desk with a computer.

That was all the same.

What _was_ different was the walls.

Before they had been mostly blank, aside from one or two posters, but now there was hardly an empty space to be found.

Various drawings and a handful of posters now covered the walls, and even the ceiling much to her disbelief.

Stepping forward, Rika examined a large poster sized drawing of Beelzemon in his Hyper Mode.

"Where'd you find this? It must have cost you a year's worth of allowance," Rika joked.

"Huh? Oh that old thing? I did it last year. I showed it to everyone, remember?" Takato asked looking up from the pile of clothes he was digging through.

Rika thought back, but couldn't for the life of her recall ever seeing it before.

"You and Ryo were going at it again…like always." Takato muttered the last part, but she still caught it and was surprised by the tone he spat it with.

"You did this? You?" Rika asked with a surprised tone.

Takato laughed as he went back to digging through his closet. "Yeah, well, I know my first couple of drawings were a bit rough."

Rika snorted

"But I figured that if I really wanted to get into the illustrating business, you know, designing Digimon cards or maybe even work on the show if it's still running when I finish school, that I'd need to get better."

"So you decided to practice?" Rika asked as she turned to see some of the other drawings.

"Yeah, I practice my butt off! I've been going through notebooks faster than my mom could buy me new ones. I did all of these." Takato said proudly as he gestured towards his walls and ceiling with one arm, while his other continued searching.

As Takato's search through his closet continued, Rika decided to look around a bit at some of his other drawings.

Most were held in place by tacks, so that they could be removed without ripping them, but something caught her attention.

A single picture frame on the opposite wall reflected light across the room, almost as if it were drawing her to it.

When she reached it, she almost chuckled at what it held.

Two pieces of lined paper from a pocket notebook. On the left was Guilmon, the first Guilmon picture to be exact. She remembered that the first time he showed it to her, it had taken everything she had not to burst out laughing. Though the only expression she showed was a raised eyebrow, on the inside she was trying to figure out how Guilmon turned out looking as normal as he did.

"_I guess the D-Arc's tweak things a bit. If it went by just this thing Guilmon would have turned out looking like ToyAgumon at best."_

The second picture however, made her shudder.

It, like the other was a first picture. It was the first picture of Growlmon.

Now Rika had seen many things in her young life. Far more than the average sixteen year old. After everything she had been through, after everything she had seen, not much was able to scare her. She could watch the entire Friday the 13th series while eating a steak dinner cooked rare without flinching.

But Growlmon still got to her on occasion.

There was just something wrong about him. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but it was there. WarGrowlmon was actually not quite as bad for some reason, and Gallantmon was even less threatening than Guilmon in her mind. His presence actually comforted her for some strange reason.

She would never forget the day Guilmon first digivolved. The roar that made her spine shiver, the eyes that to this day she could remember with crystal clarity, or the heartless, almost cruel savagery he attacked with.

She told herself it was stupid over and over. Growlmon had never attacked her, or anyone else. He had actually saved her a few times, and there was the added fact that she and Renamon had fought beside him for years. But she just couldn't shake the memories of that night he fought Devidramon from her mind.

"Ah ha! Found you!"

Rika jumped at the boy's cheerful exclamation and turned to glare.

"I found them! They haven't been worn in a while, but at least they're clean, I promise," Takato said holding out the clothes for Rika to examine.

Rika eyed the blue shorts and white shirt carefully. They were, as she had predicted, quite a bit larger than anything she would ever wear, but the shorts did have a draw string, and as Takato had pointed out, they were clean.

"Oh, and uh, about the…uh..…you know, just go through here and take whatever you need, I don't think Jeri would mind," Takato said as he pulled a small backpack from under his bed.

Eyeing the boy carefully, Rika unzipped the backpack and looked inside.

The first thing she saw was a familiar green dress.

"Why do you have a backpack full of Jeri's clothes in your room? Under your bed?" Rika asked with narrowed eyes.

Takato sighed as he sat on his bed, just missing Renamon's tail (which she moved without a word, letting Rika know that she was in fact awake).

"Rika…what I'm about to tell you can never leave this room ok?"

Rika was stunned by the weight of the boys tone, but nodded to signal that she understood.

"After we beat the D-Reaper, Jeri…Jeri went through a lot, you know that right?"

Only due to the severity of the subject did Rika not roll her eyes, but again nodded, this time slowly before replying.

"Yeah, she lost her partner, then was used as a container to bring the D-Reaper to our world, then got used as a puppet after it took over. But we got her out of there, well, you did," Rika answered matter of factly.

"Mostly true, but she was still messed up Rika. Her mind just….it almost slipped, even after everything turned out ok. She needed someone to keep her going; she needed someone to just…be there for her."

"And that was you. Yeah, yeah, I know. You think I-we didn't notice her clinging to your arm every day since then?" Rika replied with a small amount of annoyance.

"Rika, you have no idea what it was like for her. She almost...she almost gave up, several times after that. The reason she stuck so close to me was she had lost her will to keep going. She used it up when she broke free from the D-Reaper. Since then she's spent the night here every now and then, but she's been getting better."

"So what, you're going out now, big whoop. Damsel in distress gets her _gallant_ knight in shining armor, end of story."

Takato looked up at Rika with an expression of pure confusion.

"Going out? What are you talking about? She's like a sister to me."

Rika shot him a deadpan look.

"Ok, so maybe I did…kind of have a crush on her, and maybe she had…a small one on me."

"_Small? Yeah, maybe if your idea of small is MegaGargomon,"_ Rika thought to herself.

"We just got too close you know. There's a point when you just know too much about someone, you know them too well, and I guess….I guess we crossed it while I was trying to help her pull herself back together," Takato said glumly.

Rika was lost, completely and utterly lost. She had no experience in helping others with this sort of problem, heck, she herself dealt with it either by bottling it up, or taking it out on others, usually Takato or Terriermon, (which ever she could get a hold of easier at the time.)

"I…uh..." Rika tried to find the words to say, but nothing came to mind.

"Forget about it. It's in the past right?" Takato said tiredly.

Rika just nodded before digging into the backpack, praying to find a pair of under clothes.

"_Success!"_ She thought as she found what she was looking for. Smirking at the thought of a hot shower, she got up quickly and reached for the hem of her shirt when her brain kicked in to remind her about something,

Something kind of important.

"Uh, Takato, could you…uh," Rika asked clearing her throat.

The frozen teen jumpstarted to life, shaking his head before replying. "Oh, yeah, uh, I'll be down stairs…umm…goodnight," Takato said quickly before turning to leave.

"Hey I still need a towel! And a."

"Way ahead of you, I grabbed that on the way up," Takato said pointing at a fluffy white towel on the top bunk before continuing. "Just check the closet across from the shower, that's where we keep everything else."

With that the boy left the room, closing the door behind him.

Rika let out what seemed to be the millionth sigh of the day as she closed the window blinds then changed out before wrapping the towel closely around herself. She then walked out of the room and closed the door behind her.

Had she paid closer attention, she would have noticed a small 'click' as she did so.

The wash room was just across the hall from Takato's room, she knew that. The only other door on the upper floor was his parent's room, which was at the end of the hall. She could make out some muffled noise coming from it, but decided against snooping, especially since she was just a guest.

Rika was surprised that nothing happened while she was in the shower, having half expected the water to drop below freezing, or for one of his parents to come in, though she knew Takato himself wouldn't, either out of fear or respect she wasn't sure though.

Drying off, she quickly wrapped the towel around herself before sticking her head out of the door.

"_Looks like the coast is clear, good."_

Moving across the hallway as fast as she could, she reached out with her free hand to open the door.

Rika's eyes widened.

"_No…no…no there is no way my luck is that bad!"_

Twisting the knob again, this time with a bit more force, Rika's face went from annoyed, to angered, until it finally became desperate.

"_I can't believe this!"_ Rika wasn't sure if she felt like screaming, crying, or doing both at the same time.

No matter how much she tried to twist the knob, it remained still.

Locked

Making sure that her towel was secure, Rika lowered herself so that she was eye level with the door knob.

It didn't have a key hole, but there was a small hole of some sort in the center.

"_Uh, stupid western style doors. How do people live with these things?"_

Rising back up quickly, Rika weighed her options.

"_I could probably kick the door in…but then Gogglehead would come running to see what was going on…and his parents would too and we'd both be in hot water. I know Renamon can't open it because her paws are too big….I could go get his parents….yeah, I'm sure that'd go over great, a half soaked girl wrapped in a bath towel asking for help getting inside their sixteen year old son's room. If I'm lucky they'll just kill me and won't call my home. The only other thing I can do is…get…"_

Rika bit her lip before swallowing the lump in her throat.

"_Why does life hate me? What did I ever do to deserve this?"_ Looking down, Rika tried to decide if she should pull the towel higher or lower, either way left her showing a little too much for her taste. Gathering her courage, Rika made her way down the stairs, making sure to check behind her for Takato's parents. This was one problem she did not want to have to explain her way out of.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, she listened for any possible sound, trying to pinpoint where the boy was.

_Snore_

Rika's eyes widened. _"He's asleep already? I was only up there for ten minutes."_ Knowing that she was only stalling the issue at hand, Rika moved as quietly as she could into the living room.

Sure enough, there on the couch, under a pile of blankets she was able to make out a shock of brown hair sticking out at one end. Sprawled out across the ground under the couch was an equally peaceful Guilmon.

Moving quickly, Rika reached the side of the couch where she could see Takato's head, and lowered herself behind the armrest, so that only her head was visible.

"Takato, hey, Takato!" Rika hissed.

The sleeping boy stirred slightly, only to turn and face the other way.

"Na…Jer…Rik…I'm….wit…_snore_."

Rika's eyebrow twitched.

"_He even dreams about her? Over his crush my hide,"_ Rika thought as she balled her free hand into a fist.

"Gogglehead…wake…up…now," Rika hissed before her anger seemed to just evaporate, allowing her desperation to peak through her normally controlled self.

"Please….I…need help," Rika said, lowering her head in shame.

The boy's breath seemed to hitch for a brief moment before his head moved upwards towards her face.

Blinking slowly, Takato's light red eyes focused on the girl hovering above him.

"Is…this….another dream?" He asked groggily.

Blushing down to her neck, Rika cleared her throat.

"I…there's a problem."

Takato tried to move up but Rika wanted to keep him put if at all possible.

"Don't move!" She hissed before continuing. "Look, there….is…is there any way to open your door if it's locked from the inside?" Rika asked in a hushed tone, though there was a panicky edge to it.

"Wha…why? Did you lock yourself out or something?"

Rika nodded in response, but averted her eyes.

"Oh…no big…I'll get _yawn_ it for you, just give me a sec."

Eyes wide, Rika rose and pushed the boy back down with her free arm.

"Just tell me how to do it! Please,…don't get up," she pleaded.

Takato's brow creased in confusion and worry as he saw the girl's expression.

"Rika, are you ok? What happened?"

"_How did he go from being asleep to wide awake that fast? Normally he's as bad as Guilmon."_

"Look, I just…I need to know how. I can't tell you why, but you just have to trust me."

Takato opened his mouth to speak, when it happened.

"Takato? Are you down there?"

Rika's eyes widened as her pupils shrank to the size of pinheads and her mouth formed a gaping O of horror at the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs.

"Rika? What's going on?" Takato asked with a worried tone.

Head drooping, Rika felt almost every fiber she had left break.

"_I'm done for...this is it. I might as well stand my ground. No way am I going down like a coward,"_ Rika thought as she rose up off her knees and took a step forward.

"Rika? Why are you?" Takato asked in confusion at seeing her current state.

Head down in shame, Rika was about to try and explain as quickly as she could before the boy's mother reached them when she felt his hand clamp down on her arm.

Looking up in surprise, Rika was about to demand that he let go if he wanted to be able to walk for the next month when she found herself looking directly into Takato's eyes.

"_What on earth? His eyes...what is that look?"_

Before she could give it a second thought she found herself being pushed back onto the couch with surprising force.

"Takato?! What are you?!"

"Shissh! Keep quiet, and whatever you do don't move!" Takato said with his 'charge into battle' voice before pushing her further against the back of the couch, then dropping down with his back facing her and quickly pulling the blankets up over them both.

"_WHAT DOES HE THINK HE'S DOING?!"_ Rika demanded in her mind as she got ready to remind the boy just who he was dealing with.

"Takato? Are you in here?"

She froze.

"Yeah mom?" Takato asked with a groggy voice before yawning.

Rika heard a pair of footsteps enter the living room, and felt her insides twist into knots.

"I was just checking on you. I tried to open your door but it was locked from the inside, you're not hiding anything are you?"

Rika swallowed as she tried to shrink herself out of existence.

"_I can't believe this. I'm hiding under a blanket, wrapped in a towel, behind TAKATO of all people, with his parents less than ten feet away interrogating him. Is this normal? Does this happen to everyone or is it just me?"_ Rika thought ruefully.

"MOM!"

"Mie, honey, leave the boy alone. He's had a long day, and I doubt his friend would have gone through the trouble of staying here just to,"

"DAD!"

Despite the severity of the situation, Rika found herself in somewhat higher spirits.

"_I should have known better. What was I worried about; this is Takato, thickheaded, acts before he thinks Takato, not some hormonal teenage boy."_

"Can't you just let me sleep in peace? I've got a ton of homework due Monday, and I told you already that I'm not missing the Digimon marathon Sunday," Takato said with an annoyed tone.

Rika heard something that sounded like chuckling, which she assumed to be from Takehiro.

"Come on dear, let the boy sleep. He's got the morning shift tomorrow too after all."

Listening closely, Rika was able to hear the two sets of footsteps grow softer and further away, until eventually she heard a door close somewhere upstairs.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Rika was about to tell Takato to move when he did so on his own.

"Sorry about shoving you like that. I just didn't want you getting in trouble," Takato said looking away.

Rika was confused by this until she remembered her current state of dress.

Or rather, her lack thereof.

"Ye-yeah, quick thinking there Tak-Gogglehead," Rika caught herself just in time. She didn't know why she almost called him by his given name, she only did that when things were generally ok, which now was not the case.

"Come on, let's get you back upstairs before mom comes back, or dad gets the midnight munchies."

"_He…he really is trying isn't he?"_ Rika couldn't help but smile. It wasn't even close in size to one of her annoyed smirks, but it was a genuine smile.

The two made their way up the stairs cautiously. With Takato in the front checking around each corner before signiling her that the coast was clear.

Reaching his room, Takato stood on the tips of his toes so that he could reach the top of the door frame. A second later he brought back his hands holding what looked like a paper clip.

"Is that a?"

Without looking behind him, Takato replied.

"Yeah, it's a paper clip. I've locked myself out a couple of times in the past, and I didn't want to have to come down stairs looking for one every time it happened," he said as he pushed the thin end inside the small hole and twisted it until a 'pop' sound was heard.

Twisting the door knob, Takato opened the door before turning to face down the hall towards his parents room.

"Go on, get in, I'll put this back after your inside," Takato said nervously.

Stepping inside the room, Rika felt a little bad for some reason. She didn't know why she did it, she just did.

"Gogglehead?"

"Hmm? Something wrong?" Takato asked, still looking towards his parents room.

"Gogglehead, look at me when I'm talking to you," Rika said, slightly annoyed at both how he was acting, and the odd 'bad' feeling in her stomach.

Ever so slowly the boy turned his head towards her. Rika was a bit surprised (and pleased) that his head remained leveled and that he only looked at her face, focusing on her eyes.

"I'm not very good at this, but…thanks."

Takato blinked.

"That's it?"

Rika's eyebrow rose in a warning manner.

"Yes, why? Were you expecting someth," before she could finish, the boy cut in.

"No! Absolutely not!"

"_I can't let this go without doing something. He's just too easy,"_ Rika thought as she felt that she was in control of things for once since the day had started.

Smirking, Rika watched the worried, and dare she say it, hopeful expression on his face.

"There is something else actually."

Takato gulped.

"Th-there is?"

Rika nodded. "Yeah, something I almost forgot," she said before leaning a bit closer to him.

"If you tell anyone about what happened here tonight, you'll find out firsthand just how I earned the title of Digimon Queen. Kapesh?" Rika threatened.

Takato gulped again before answering. "Ka-ka-kapesh."

Rika seemed to consider this for a moment before adding one list thought.

"Oh, and Takato, you need to take a shower. You stink," she said before closing the door with a smirk.

End chapter 1

AN: Ok, so how was it? I hope it was better than my first attempt. I've spent close to two weeks working on this chapter, trying to get it to flow smoothly. This was my first attempt at anything…more than normal humor, and I hope I didn't butcher it to pieces. There will be three more chapters to follow this one, but I'll leave it to you guys and girls to guess whose points they're from. Liked it, hated it, let me know please!

How would you act in his shoes with a rabid fanboy buzzing all around you?

Till next time, Ja Ne!


	2. His Fear

That night, through my eyes

His Fear

AN: Wow. You guys (and girls) definitely know how to give a guy an ego boost, you know that? Your reviews really drove me to finish this as quickly and as well as I could. I want to thank B.C. for letting me bounce ideas off of him in writing this, and everyone else who reviewed. It's thanks to ya'll that I can keep going! Now, like I said last chapter, all four chapters will cover roughly the same period of time, but not exactly. The last two will go on a bit longer due to who they are, but you'll just have to wait and see what I mean. Oh, and my poll is still up for those that want to help out with my and a fellow fans discussion.

This chapter is dedicated to PeachWookiee and 15AnimeFreak15 for helping me learn how to write anything of a romantic nature. If you're a fan of the Yu-Gi-Oh series, or just want to read a really good set of Romantic Comedy's, check out their work! (Remember, as good as I might be, they are the one's that taught me, so they are wayyy better!)

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon, I own a DVD set of it now (03, the best season ever) but that's it. Digimon and its characters are the property of Bandi Namco Entertainment.

"So that's when I said, yeah right! Like I'd ever…." The blond teenager stopped dead in her tracks.

"Uh, Merial, are you ok?"

The group of girls stopped as they took note of their 'leader' silently staring down a nearby alley.

"Merial? Is something wrong?"

The blond haired teen shook her head before pointing at a nearby alley. "Did you see that?"

"See what?"

"There, over there, I saw something look out from the corner, but then it disappeared," the blond replied nervously.

"Something? Like what? A stalker?!"

The blond teen narrowed her eyes at the others. "No stupid, it looked like…I could have sworn I saw a pair of glowing yellow eyes…."

At this the other girls started laughing.

"Good one Merial, you almost had me there."

Merial thought for a moment before deciding to drop the matter and play along that it had been a joke. After all, there was no way she had just seen a seven foot tall guy dressed up as a knight, and even if she had, there was no way he could have glowing eyes.

Right?

Inside his gold and red bubble, Takato let out a sigh of relief.

"Whew, that was a close one huh boy?"

"Hmm?"

Takato's shoulders drooped at his partner's response. Of course Guilmon wouldn't have understood, HE didn't even understand why they were running around ducking in and out of the alleys to avoid being seen.

Scratch that, he knew exactly the reason why, what he couldn't understand is why he had come up with the idea in the first place.

"Takatomon, is something wrong?" Guilmon asked innocently.

Letting out a tired sigh, Takato shook his head before replying.

"No, nothings wrong. I'm just a little…off I guess."

"Because of Rika?"

That made snapped Takato out of his funk.

"W-what? Why would you say that? She's been to my place plenty of times!"

Guilmon was quiet for a moment before replying. In the years following the D-Reaper attack, he had learned a great deal of how to act around people. Namely, to think before he spoke.

Now if only his Tamer could do the same….

"No…not that….you just…always act funny when Rika is upset."

Creasing his brow in concentration, Takato tried to figure out what his partner was talking about.

"_I don't act weird when Rika's upset do I? I mean, sure, I'm more cautious, but that's just being smart, nothing strange about not wanting to get my butt kicked by a girl…."_

"Takato gets angry when he see's Rika upset, makes big boom!" Guilmon shouted excitedly before laughing.

Takato sweat dropped as he picked up Guilmon thinking about the Parking Garage incident, then the IceDevimon incident, and lastly the Locomon incident.

"Uhh…"

"Takato got really mad today, I was going to come because I thought there was a fight, but Renamon stopped me."

Just as Gallantmon reached the alley on the opposite side of the street, he came to a stop.

"What? When did that happen?"

"Today….not sure when, it was after I finished my first jar of peanut butter, but before I finished my bread."

Running over his partner and friends daily eating routine, Takato figured that it was around lunch time.

"Oh…that…uh…yeah. Somebody said something about Digimon being for little babies and I got mad, sorry if I made you worry," Takato said, trying to cover for himself and forget about today at the same time.

"Come on, we're almost there Guilmon."

For a moment Takato thought he heard a disappointed sigh come from his partner, but chalked it up to hunger.

"Ok, we need to find a spot to Dedigivolve, but it can't be too close to the house. I don't want mom to see us."

"How about the big building with one wall?" Guilmon offered.

"Big building with one wall…oh the new shop they're building down the street, good idea!"

Peeking out from the corner of the building, Gallantmon made a break for it and quickly ran around the side of the building's one finished wall.

"**Ok, here is good."**

"Hey! Watch it Gogglehead!"

Gallantmon looked down to find the source of the familiar voice.

"**Huh? Oh, sorry Rika!"**

"Alright boy, separate now!"

A bright red flash filled the area for a brief second before fading into nothingness, leaving behind a somewhat confused red dinosaur and a very frightened teen in its place.

"_I just hope Rika's not in a bad mood,"_ Takato thought hopefully.

"What took you so long? We've been waiting out here for almost ten minutes!" Rika Hissed.

"_Yep, she's in a bad mood, quick think of something!"_

"S-sorry Rika, but we, we got a little turned around. It's not like I could just run down the sidewalk or across the street." Takato defended.

"_I hope she buys it, I don't want her being mad at me before we even get inside. Mom's going throw a fit as it is, I don't need two people after my head."_

Seeing that she was at least mulling the idea over, Takato decided to try and change subjects to help calm her down.

"How'd you get here so fast anyway? Renamon poof you the whole way?"

Takato saw Renamon step out from behind Rika with her arms crossed and what could only be described as a bored expression on her face.

"No, I have not used Kohenkyo since before the battle with the MetalMamamon. Rika ran on her own, while I used the rooftops to avoid drawing attention to myself."

Takato's jaw went through the pavement.

"_She ran the entire way here?"_

"You mean you ran the entire way? All the way from the park, to my place?"

Watching closely, Takato saw Rika's face light up just a tad as she smirked and nodded.

"And you're perfectly fine? You don't feel like, dropping dead or coughing up a lung?" Takato asked suspiciously.

Seeing her smirk disappear and quickly become replaced with her normal 'anti-Kazu' glare, Takato figured that he had said the wrong thing.

"What? You don't think I could do it just because I'm a girl?" She asked accusingly.

Waving his arms desperately, Takato tried to explain what he meant.

"No! No! Nothing like that! I was just surprised, that's all….You're in really good shape."

Hoping that the compliment had 'saved' him, Takato slumped as he saw Rika turn to face away from him.

"_Great going Takato. Make the already angry redhead even angrier. Rika was right, I am a Gogglehead."_

"So how do we explain this to your parents? It can't be too often that you have company stay overnight," Rika said as she walked towards the bakery.

That's when the 'curse of the Gogglehead' decided to rear its ugly head yet again.

"Hey! That's not true. Henry's been here a couple of times, and me Kazu and Kenta had a few video game tournaments that lasted through till morning. Even Jeri stayed over the night after we took down the D-Reaper," Takato replied, thinking that her knowing that the others had spent the night would calm her down a bit.

Oh how wrong he was.

Stopping dead in her tracks, Rika spun on her heel and gave Takato a glare he knew she usually reserved for Ryo.

"Oh? And let me guess, Mr. Perfect spends every weekend here too right?" Rika demanded.

"_Man, why can't I just get a break?! I just keep making her more and more angry! At this rate I'll be lucky if she doesn't throw me under a bus in my sleep! Ok, think Takato, she's mad because…why? Is she mad because she thinks I'm hanging around Ryo? That doesn't make any sense; I thought she hated his…oh."_

Takato's shoulders slumped a bit more as a certain discussion with his mother flickered across his mind.

"_Girls fight with guys they….well…we might not be close friends, but I don't want Ryo to be in trouble because I said something stupid…again. I just need a way to make her mad at…me and not him…wait, that's it!"_

"I..uh…no. Ryo's never even been here before. At least I don't think he has. You two are the only ones that haven't….well, unless you count Suzie, Ai and Mako, they haven't either, but they have stopped by to pick up bread with their parents a few times in the."

"Look, I'm _really_, really tired. I haven't eaten anything since lunch, and I just want to call it a night. So, could you please cut the useless chit chat and get this over with?"

"_Well…mission accomplished….I guess…at least she's not mad at Ryo anymore…"_

Seeing Rika look back up at him, Takato plastered his fake happy grin and scratched the back of his head nervously.

"_Ok, well that's…over with…I guess that explains a lot actually…I need more time to think about this, for now I just hope she doesn't get any more ticked off at me than she already is."_

"Sorry about that. I guess I got a bit carried away." Looking over at Renamon, he scratched his chin.

"_Ok, dad won't really have a problem with them staying over, but mom….if I want to help Rika out of this, we need to make it good."_

"Can you…uhh…can you pretend that you were hurt? Or that you're tired?"

Renamon was about to reply when Rika cut in.

"Just act like you would after being around Terriermon all day."

The effect was immediate. The yellow fox's shoulders slumped and her face became so devoid of emotion that it was hard to tell if she was sleep walking, or just very tired. Also, while he wasn't sure due to the lack of light, Takato could have sworn that her fur actually changed from its usual glossy yellow to a dull bland shade.

"That good enough?"

Takato snickered before nodding. "Yeah, she looks like she went ten rounds with Beezlemon."

"Uh, Gogglehead, we just got back from a big battle remember? Can you act at least a little tired?"

"_Hmm, she's right, I almost forgot about that. Let's see, oh! I know, I'll just do what I did when I used to get home late from patrols before they found out about Guilmon!"_

Stopping for a moment, Takato slumped his shoulders and ruffled his hair a bit. He also made sure to rumple his clothes a little to make it look like he had fallen asleep in the park.

"_That should do it, now I just have to worry about…worry…ah man, I totally forgot! If mom thinks I went up against a Mega with no back up she'll shriek!"_

"Just don't tell my mom we were in any danger ok? She gets a bit…well, you remember how she is," Takato said frowning slightly before turning back towards the bakery.

"You coming or what?" Takato called out over his shoulder before opening the door. He thought he heard her call for Renamon, but he couldn't be too sure due to having his ear drums blasted out as soon as he walked in the door.

"TAKATO! Where were you? It's almost ten o clock and you never even called in!"

"_Ok…moms mad…geeze, why is it girls always get angry with me?"_

"Yeah, uh sorry about that, look mom, something's kind of…come up. Would it be alright if one of my friends stayed over tonight?" Takato asked hopefully.

"Don't try to change the subject young man. I want to know where you've been. Jeri and Henry both called looking for you because no one has seen or heard from you since school let out."

Hearing _her_ name hit like Togemon's Light Speed Jab to the gut. Looking over to his father for support, Takato sighed as his dad silently mouthed 'sorry' from behind his wife.

He was on his own this time.

"Mom, there…was something that came up. There was a bioemergence, well, three actually. I got attacked and Guilmon came and saved me. It took a while because there was three of them, and they were pretty fast," pausing, Takato tried to gauge his mothers reaction.

What he saw didn't exactly comfort him.

"Takato, I might not exactly understand everything that you and your friends do, but I know you well enough that I know it wouldn't take you six hours to fight three Digimon on the way home from school."

"_Well, here it goes, Rika, I could really use a hand here,"_ Takato mentally pleaded.

"Well…that's the thing…I didn't get all three…I only got one of them…Rika got the other two…"

Seeing that his mother was now listening, and knowing that he only had one shot, Takato started.

"I came across Rika, and when I found her she had been running…from a Mega…but me and Guilmon took care of him no problem! It only took a second I swear!"

"And this is why you're late getting home?" Mie asked suspiciously.

"Well, yeah, I mean, I stayed with her a little while to make sure she was alright too, actually that's the reason why I brought her here, because her and Renamon are so worn out," Takato tried to explain.

"Really? Then where is she? If what you're saying is true then why are you by yourself? I told you that dinner is at eight o'clock unless there is an emergency!"

"Mom! I'm telling you, it's true!" _"Come on Rika, anytime now would be nice!"_

"Excuse me, Miss Matsuki?"

Turning to look behind him, Takato smiled for a brief moment before schooling his face back to his 'serious' mode.

Mie looked at Rika, then back to Takato.

"Rika? So then…it was true?"

Takato let out a sigh of relief as his mother moved towards Rika and was no longer focusing on him.

"Are you ok? We have a first aid kit in the back."

"_Hey! Mom never asks me if I need any help!"_

"I'm fine Mrs. Matsuki. Just a bit tired," he heard Rika say before seeing her clutch her stomach, then softly adding, "and a little hungry."

Takato saw his mother nod then turn and look at Renamon.

"What about you? Are you ok?"

Renamon nodded her head slowly before speaking.

"I am…fine. I just need to rest for a little while."

"I understand, how long do you need, and hour? Two?"

"_An hour or two?! That wasn't in the plan! Oh man Rika is so going to kill me for this! If she has to wait around here for an hour then go home, she's going to be,"_ Takato's self destructive train of thought was derailed as he watched Renamon sway on her feet, then collapse against the counter to hold herself up.

"_Where'd she learn to do that?"_ Takato wondered.

"I..am…sorry, but I think that…I think that I might need a bit longer than that," Renamon said weakly.

"_Renamon recovers the ball and passes to Matsuki! Ok, now this I can work with, I just have to be very careful. Mom always knows when I'm lying, so I'll have to tell the truth…I'll just have to be very selective."_

"Mom, me and Guilmon found them a few blocks from here. During the fight she was dedigivolved, I saw it with my own eyes. The only time that happens is if they're caught off guard, or if they're completely exhausted."

"_Matsuki dodges the defensive guard and lines up for a shot!"_

"Well….we don't have much room Takato, you know that."

Takato was surprised to see his mother look back at Rika, but ignored it, instead focusing on the issue at hand.

"It's ok mom. I can sleep on the couch, and I bet our carpet is softer than the hideouts concrete floor," Takato offered, hinting at Guilmon.

"_Takato shoots, but the goalie deflects…"_

"Takato, why don't you give me a hand in helping your friend upstairs? She looks like she's about to pass out."

Takato's eyes widened briefly, and he saw that even Rika looked surprised for a second.

"_Out of nowhere Matsuki Sr recovers, shoots, and scores!"_

Giving his father a relieved look of gratitude, Takato walked towards Rika, and beamed her a small smile as she stepped aside.

Looking up at Renamon, he thought he saw what looked like one of Rika's smirks on her muzzle but it was gone as soon as he blinked.

Shaking his head, Takato pulled Renamon's left arm around his shoulder, as his father did the same with her right, and the two moved towards the stairs.

"Thank you…Mister Matsuki…for helping me," Renamon said as soon as the trio reached the second flight of stairs.

Takato looked up and was surprised to see his father smile and shake his head.

"Don't worry about it, and please, call me Takehiro. Mister Matsuki makes me feel old."

Renamon nodded. "I…apologize, Takehiro. Thank you…for allowing Rika and myself…to rest here."

Takehiro waved her off with his free hand.

"I told you it's not a problem. Any friend of Takato's is welcome here anytime. I'm actually surprised that Rika never accepted any of our invitations before. Takato talks about her and Henry all the time."

Takato gulped as Renamon's piercing gaze focused squarely on him.

"_Oh man, thanks a lot dad. Now I'm busted. I just hope that Renamon won't…what is that?"_

Takato saw the look Renamon was shooting him, but he didn't recognize it as anything he had seen before.

Now, to be fair, Renamon was probably the only being Takato had ever met in his life that was harder to read than her Tamer. The foxes face was capable of showing quite a bit of emotion, as he had learned over the last few years. But only when she chose to allow it.

To see any emotion on her face meant not only that she was feeling it, but that she _wanted_ it to be seen.

"_It's not anger…it almost looks like…pity? No, not pity, but close…disappointment?"_

Now that was a strange thought.

"_Why would Renamon be disappointed about me flaking out on asking Rika to spend the…this doesn't make any sense."_

"I apologize Takehiro, but it was…merely a case of bad timing. I'm sure that…had Takato _asked_…at a more favorable time Rika _would_ have accepted," Renamon replied with a tired voice.

Takehiro 'hmmed' and Takato frowned as Renamon's stare continued to pierce through him.

"_Just as I thought."_

Eye's wide, Takato looked back up at Renamon's face. That look was still there, but it seemed to have softened slightly.

"_What was that? I could have sworn that I heard Renamon…but…she can't read minds…can she?"_

Reaching Takato's room, Takehiro used his free hand to open the door, while Takato led the 'exhausted' Digimon inside his room.

He watched as Renamon surveyed the walls, and for a flashing moment, he could have sworn that he saw a look of appreciation grace her features.

"Do you think you can reach the top bunk, or is the bottom ok?" Takato asked, bringing Renamon out of her mild trance.

Renamon looked down at the boy, and seemed to think for a moment before answering.

"I…believe that…I would prefer the bottom bed. I do not…wish to be a burden," she stated.

Takato and Takehiro both let out a sigh of relief, causing her to chuckle lightly so only Takato could hear it.

After helping her lie down, Takato followed his father out of the room and closed the door behind him.

"_Well, aside from dad letting slip about the sleep over thing, this hasn't been too bad so far,"_ Takato thought.

Then he felt a familiar arm wrap around his shoulders.

"You know son."

Takato cringed, knowing that his dad was about to go off into either 'I remember back in my day' or the even more dreaded, 'I still remember the first time your mother and I'.

"I still remember the first time your mother spent the night at my parent's house," Takehiro begain.

"_Oh Kami, not this! Not again! Come on, where's a Wild One when you need it!"_

"It was a night almost exactly the same as this one."

"_Please, sweet Kami, kill me now!"_ Takato mentally pleaded.

"Next time, you might want to make sure she doesn't still have leaves in her hair, just keep that in mind," Takehiro said suddenly as he left his son and headed down stairs.

Takato blinked.

Then blinked again.

"_Make sure she doesn't still have leaves in her hair? What is that supposed to mean?"_

Looking up at a wall mounted mirror, Takato glanced at his reflection.

"_So what? I don't get it. My hair's messed up and my clothes are a little ruffled, no big deal. I look the same as I always do when I get back from a battle. And if Rika has any leaves in her hair it's either from when her and Renamon jumped down from the tree or when we hit the ground and rolled…"_

Then, Takato blinked again as Terriermon suddenly appeared in his mind's eye with a chalk board and piece of chalk in hand.

"_Messed up hair (plus) ruffled clothes (plus) coming home late with a friend (who just happened to be a girl) that has leaves in her hair (equals)….."_

Blushing furiously, Takato took several deep breaths to hold off the oncoming stroke heart attack combo that threatened to do him in right then and there. He could have sworn that he saw a Phantomon behind him in the mirrors reflection, but knew it was just his imagination.

"_Mom was right, my imagination is a curse."_

Making his way down stairs, Takato saw Rika using their phone and remembered one other tidbit from the night that was going to come back to bite him in the butt.

"_I forgot about her cell phone! It got crushed when I landed on top of her, oh man, I hope she doesn't expect me to buy her a replacement, I almost had enough saved up to finally buy one for myself."_

"GRANDMA!"

Takato snapped out of his stupor and saw Rika start trembling from behind.

"_Uh oh, that can't be good. She sounded really mad. But what on earth could her grandmother have said to make her that upset? She's always been nice to me."_

Knowing that dinner was bound to be ready soon, and wanting to comfort his friend, Takato made his presence known.

Placing his hand on her shoulder, Takato spoke up. "Uh, Rika, are you ok?"

The teenage girl stiffened before spinning around to face him, while at the same time shrugging off his hand.

"Yes!"

"_Oh man, its worst than I thought. She looks just as mad now as she did when I tried to ask her to go watch the Cherry Blossoms…"_

"Yeah, I'm fine. Grandma just has a way of bringing up certain things…at bad times," Rika said with what seemed to be a very glum voice.

"_I've got to try to at least try to cheer her up."_

"Man, I'll say. You're as red as Guilmon. Whatever she said must have upset you pretty bad," Takato said with a nervous chuckle.

Seeing her stance soften ever so slightly, Takato relaxed a little bit.

"It's ok; she said I can stay for the night."

"Oh, well that's good right? Mission accomplished," Takato said happily.

That was, until he caught sight of the two leaves caught in her spiky ponytail.

"Looks like it," Rika replied before focusing in on his face. "Are you ok?"

Hearing her words, but unable to pull his gaze from those oh so innocent little leaves, until noticing her expectant expression, Takato threw out the first thing that came to mind.

"Huh? Oh, yeah I'm fine. Dad was just giving me a hard time, that's all."

"_Oh man, why did I have to bring that up? Come on Takato, you can do better than that!"_

"Your dad was teasing you? Why?" Rika asked, confusion clearly etched across her face.

"_Two plus two equals!"_ Terriermon's snickering voice rang though his mind.

"It's not important….just….don't worry about it. If he says anything, just ignore it." Takato said looking at his feet, trying desperately to hide his flaming red face.

"Kids! Dinner!"

"_Thank heavens, saved by the bell."_

Takato's stomach growled hungrily, but unexpectedly, so did another.

"_Rika??! I thought that was Guilmon!"_ Takato thought before shaking his head, and without thinking grabbed Rika by the forearm, pulling her towards the kitchen.

"Coming mom!" Takato shouted.

Takato quickly pulled back his usual seat and grinned as he saw what his mom had made for dinner. Lifting his chop sticks, he was just about to dig in when he saw his father shaking his head disapprovingly.

"_Huh? What did I do,"_ before Takato could even finish his thought, he heard the familiar voice of his father whispering in his ear.

"You know Takato, it would have been very nice of you to pull back the young ladies seat for her. You need to know these things, especially if you're going to take her some place nice."

It took several seconds for him to understand exactly what his father had been implying, but once it did, it struck him like a run away train.

_Cough cough cough cough_

If he were to see an X-Ray of himself right now, Takato had no doubt that he would have seen a noodle lodged halfway into one of his lunges.

"_Got…to…get…help….Rika….Guil"_

"Are you ok?" Rika asked calmly.

"_NO I AM NOT OK! I'M CHOAKING TO DEATH ON A PIECE OR RAMEN!"_

_SMACK_

Coughing one last time to free himself from the 'evil noodle of death' Takato first felt relief, but that quickly changed to horror as he watched the noodle speed towards Rika in slow motion.

"_How is that even possible?"_

He watched as the noodle somersaulted end over end towards the redhead.

"_If it hits her, I'm dead, if it hits her food, I'll just suffer for the rest of my life."_

Then, by some unknown force, the noodle lost its forward momentum and landed several inches short of Rika's plate.

"_Phew, man, I owe somebody big time for this."_

"Sorry! I just," before he could finish he noticed the small smirk on Rika's face.

"Almost choked to death on a piece of old noodle? Yeah, I can see that."

Though her tone was similar to the one she used when taunting, it wasn't quite the same Takato noticed. It was softer, almost…playful.

Trying to speak, Takato's eyes fell on the half chewed noodle he had coughed up, causing him to cringe and look away.

"For god's sakes Gogglehead, what's wrong with you? You're acting like Ryo every time Kazu's around. Why are you so jittery?"

"_There she goes again. Ryo this, Ryo that."_

Trying to keep his composure, and knowing he had no chance of changing the subject, Takato opted to simply kill it.

"I..uh…just..nothing, don't worry about it," Takato answered before lowering his head and eating his oddly suddenly cold dinner.

"_Great going Gogglehead,"_ Rika's voice taunted in his mind.

"_So you drag me across town to you dinky little house to eat cold Ramen noodles on cracked plates for dinner. What's next? A bucket hanging from a tree branch for a shower?"_

Looking up for a brief moment, Takato cringed as he noticed the 'mock' Rika was right. The plate Rika was eating off of was one of the cracked ones his mom kept complaining about.

He knew it shouldn't have bothered him, but for some reason it just did. None of his friends seemed to notice or mind this little fact, or any of the other little things that he only seemed to notice when Rika was around.

The plates were cracked, one of the walls had a spilt where it connected to the ceiling, the paint in the bathroom pealing, none of them he ever noticed before, nor did he ever care really.

But whenever Rika was around, they just seemed to come out of nowhere and glare at him like the sun.

Thinking back, he remembered the first time he had been to Rika's house. Sure it was big, but he also noticed how everything just seemed to be…perfect. Compared to his home, it was almost like being in a palace. Everything was clean, everything was new, nothing was cracked, and nothing was blemished.

Looking up, he couldn't help but feel slightly worse.

Rika came from another world almost. Sure, she went to the same school as him and the others, but she wasn't the same as them.

She was for lack of a better word, refined.

Never once did she act like a snob, not once did she rub it in any of their faces. If anything, she _tried_ to act more like they did. But in the rare event that she was relaxed, comfortable, or at ease, her demeanor was almost exactly like her mother or grandmothers.

Proud and dignified, but at the same time respectfuly peaceable.

"_I hope she doesn't notice the crack…huh?"_

Despite her having been calm moments before, Rika's face was now contorted and twisted with a weak scowl.

"_What is her problem? Did she notice the crack? Or is it the food? Mom didn't put that much crushed pepper in it did she?"_

"Rika? Is the food alright? I know my mom makes the stuff a little hot sometimes, but I didn't think you had a problem with spicy food?"

He was surprised to see Rika blink and shake her head before looking up at him.

"What?"

"Your face was all scrunched up; I thought maybe you didn't like spicy food or something."

"_Uh, way to go Takato, you probably just set her off again."_

"No it's fine. I was just…thinking about…today…"

"_Today? What happened to…oh, yeah that's right. I forgot about that."_

The memory of himself, Rika and the others all at the picnic flashed across his mind. Kazu trying to get a betting pool started on how long it would be before Rika snapped, Rika getting more and more fidgety, and the line of boys from the school trying to give her chocolates growling larger by the second.

"Oh….yeah, I guess that would make you pretty upset," Takato replied after lowering his head to hide his scowl.

"_It's just not fair. Rika has to put up with enough. Why don't the guys get it? She doesn't want that kind of attention."_

Takato's eyes narrowed even further as a few select memories came up along side today's lunch.

"_IceDevimon, Parasi….why is it always Rika that gets attacked emotionally? I know she's strong, but how is it that everyone seems to know that one weak spot?"_

Looking up, he watched her slowly eat the remaining food on her plate. She looked calm for the most part, but he had known her long enough to know when something was bugging her. The subtle way her blinking became almost nonexistent, and how her breathing slowed noticeably if one were to look.

"_Something's on her mind, but what? She looked away when she told me that she was thinking about what happened today, so I know she's lying. Question is, what could it be to get her that down?"_

"_I've got to get her mind off whatever it is."_

Noticing that her plate was now empty, Takato smiled.

"So, uh…you…want any seconds? I think we still got some more if you're still hungry."

"_At least it will distract her; maybe I can get her to talk?"_

Takato watched as Rika set down her chopsticks and shook her head.

"I'm fine, I just want to take a…" Rika groaned before slamming her head on the table.

"_What happened?! Was the food past expiration? Is she ok?"_ These thoughts flew through his mind as Takato jumped up from his chair and ran around to her side of the table.

"Rika! Are you ok?!"

Hearing her groan only reinforced the notion it was something wrong with her food.

"_Ok, so your not making her angry anymore, now you're just giving her food poisoning. Great what's next?"_

The girl let out an irritated sigh as she looked up and met his eyes with her own.

He had expected a million different things to come from her right then, but what did was the furthest thing from any of them he could have imagined.

"A shower."

"What?!" _"A shower?! Here? In my house?!"_

"A shower Gogglehead. I've been wearing these clothes all day, and between running around the park, then all the way back here…." Rika let out another long groan as she dropped her head onto the table.

"_Oh man, I never even thought about that! Come on Takato, keep you head up, don't panic, you can do this!"_

"We-we well, uh…you…you could, I mean, we have extra towels and stuff, so," before he could finish, Takato found himself being glared at by two violet colored orbs.

"_She's….not mad? But why? She looks like she's….tired?"_

"Aren't you forgetting something? Something important!?"

"_Something's not right, why does she look so exhausted? It's like she's…."_

"Clothes! Clothes Gogglehead! What am I supposed to wear? I'm not going to take a shower just so I can put these back on to sleep in!"

"_Clothes? No problem there, I've got plenty she could w…."_

Takato blinked, then turned fire engine red before stuttering.

"You-well, there is-I mean, you could-if you, wanted that is, I mean."

"_Aw man she's going to slap me, I know it!"_

Instead of feeling a sudden sting on his cheek, Takato was surprised to feel, nothing.

Peeking open one eye, he saw that she was no longer even looking at him. Instead she had lowered her head back to the table and was tapping it lightly.

"_Ok, that was weird, I thought for sure she was going to slap me into next month for even trying to suggest wearing anything of mine."_

Seeing her frame shake softly, Takato opened his other eye and focused on his friend.

"_Something is definitely wrong; I've never seen her act like this before."_

"Why? Why does everything have to be so freaking hard? I don't ask for much, so why do I always get even less?" She asked softly.

"_She's tired of fighting….just like…._she_ was. It must be something big, but I can't help her if she won't tell me what it is."_

In less than a second however, his mind changed gears completely.

"_If she's tired of fighting, then I'll fight for her."_

Shifting his feet, Takato took a deep breath as he moved around to her side and cleared his throat.

It took a moment, but sure enough she lifted her head from the table and looked him in the eye.

"_She looks so…weak, what on earth is doing this to her?"_ In the back of his mind, he felt a tiny ember of anger flash at the thought of whatever it was that had worn his normally strong friend to the point she was showing any form of weakness.

"As long as you don't have a problem with it, I've got a spare gym uniform you could wear, and..well…Jeri left some spare clothes here in case she had another….well, you know."

"_It's not much, but if I can take over and get her through this, then she'll have more to fight with whatever's doing this to her."_

Takato watched as she lowered her head and sighed before getting up and placing her plate in the sink.

"It can't be any worse than wearing these to sleep. Come on."

"Huh? Me? Where?"

"I'm not digging through your closet," Rika replied as she grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him upstairs.

After Rika opened the door, Takato walked in and moved as quietly as he could to his closet.

"_She might not be sleeping, but I don't want my parents to come in here asking a bunch of questions either,"_ he reasoned.

Opening his closet, Takato began his search.

"_Come on, where is that thing? I know I saw it a few days ago."_

Halfway through the first pile, he heard Rika speak up.

"Where'd you find this? It must have cost you a year's worth of allowance."

Looking over his shoulder, he saw that she was pointing at the Beelzemon poster he had drawn last year.

"Huh? Oh that old thing? I did it last year. I showed it to everyone, remember?"

"_Wonder how she could have forgot about it, I know she was there, her and Ry…oh."_

"You and Ryo were going at it again…like always." Takato muttered the last part under his breath.

_Geeze, how did I miss that? She's been like that with him ever since we met in the digital world. I thought for sure that she…"_ his negative thoughts were brought to a halt by a light snicker.

"You did this? You?"

"_Well, at least she's happier now…but why wouldn't she believe?"_ Looking up again, he saw that she wasn't joking.

Laughing at her serious expression, Takato went back to digging thought his closet.

"Yeah, well, I know my first couple of drawings were a bit rough."

He could have sworn that he heard her snort, but ignored it.

"But I figured that if I really wanted to get into the illustrating business, you know, designing Digimon cards or maybe even work on the show if it's still running when I finish school, that I'd need to get better."

"So you decided to practice?"

"Yeah, I practice my butt off! I've been going through notebooks faster than mom could buy me new ones. I did all of these." Takato said proudly as he gestured towards his walls and ceiling with one arm, while his other continued searching.

"_Come on come on, where are you? I know you're in here!"_

After a few short minutes of searching, he found it.

"Ah ha! Found you!"

Pulling the elusive gym suit from its hiding spot. (Under his box of spar modify cards) Takato held his 'trophy' out for inspection.

"I found them! They haven't been worn in a while, but at least they're clean, I promise."

He watched as Rika looked the shorts and shirt over a few times and couldn't help but feel like he was examined underneath a microscope.

"_What's up with the ten point inspection? She's just going to sleep in them….oh wait…I forgot about….those."_

Handing the gym clothes to her, Takato went over to his bed and pulled out a lime green backpack.

"Oh, and uh, about the…uh..…you know, just go through here and take whatever you need; I don't think Jeri would mind."

Gulping, he watched her open up the backpack and look in before she turned back to him with narrowed eyes.

"Why do you have a backpack full of Jeri's clothes in your room? Under your bed?"

"_What? How can she not know about…"_

Putting the pieces together, Takato figured it out.

"_But, her and Jeri are always so tight, how could she not have told her after all this time?"_

Sighing, Takato moved towards his bed and sat on the corner opposite of Renamon's head.

Taking a deep breath, Takato looked up.

"Rika…what I'm about to tell you can never leave this room ok?"

A few seconds passed before she responded, but he was able to see her nod her head slightly.

"_Ok, I know I can trust Rika, but I cant tell her everything, that wouldn't be fair to Jeri."_ Taking the brief moment to sort and organize his thoughts, Takato spoke.

"After we beat the D-Reaper, Jeri…Jeri went through a lot, you know that right?"

"_Might as well start at the beginning."_

"Yeah, she lost her partner, then was used as a container to bring the D-Reaper to our world, then got used as a puppet after it took over. But we got her out of there, well, you did," Rika answered matter of factly.

"Mostly true, but she was still messed up Rika. Her mind just….it almost slipped, even after everything turned out ok. She needed someone to keep her going; she needed someone to just…be there for her."

"And that was you. Yeah, yeah, I know. You think I-we didn't notice her clinging to your arm every day since then?" Rika replied with a small amount of annoyance.

"Rika, you have no idea what it was like for her. She almost...she almost gave up, several times after that. The reason she stuck so close to me was she had lost her will to keep going. She used it up when she broke free from the D-Reaper. Since then she's spent the night here every now and then, but she's been getting better."

"_Which IS what I wanted, but…"_

"So what, you're going out now, big whoop. Damsel in distress gets her _gallant_ knight in shining armor, end of story."

_Record scratches_

"Going out? What are you talking about? She's like a sister to me."

Seeing the less than humored look Rika was shooting him, Takato knew that his crush hadn't been quite as imperceptible as he had hoped.

"Ok, so maybe I did…kind of have a crush on her, and maybe she had…a small one on me."

"_This stinks. Here I'm trying to help her and its just coming back to bite me in the rear. What did I do to deserve this?"_

Seeing that Rika was going nowhere without a satisfying answer, Takato fell back on _her_ words.

"We just got too close you know. There's a point when you just know too much about someone, you know them too well, and I guess….I guess we crossed it while I was trying to help her pull herself back together," Takato said glumly.

Takato watched as a storm of emotions played across Rika's face, trying to figure out his next move.

"_If she doesn't just accept it…I'll have to tell her eventually, but…can't Jeri do that? I don't even know what really happened! How am I supposed to explain it if I don't even understand it?"_

"I…uh..." seeing Rika struggling, Takato, as tired as he was, filled in for her.

"Forget about it. It's in the past right?"

Seeing her nod, he got back up from where he had been sitting and moved so that he was off to Rika's side. He wanted to give her some privacy. (Read as, he didn't want to see what she was looking through.) A few seconds passed before he saw a small grin spread across her face as she pulled out two white 'items' from the bag and set them on top of the gym clothes.

"_Ok, looks like she's got everything she needs. I'll just cut out now and fix a spot on the cou…….."_

Takato's brain ceased all function as he watched Rika reach from the bottom of her shirt and pull upwards, even if it was only two inches before stopping.

Now, Takato was not a pervert.

He was however a healthy sixteen year old boy.

"Uh, Takato," he heard echo somewhere in his head.

_Doo de deep_ _"We are sorry, but the number you have dialed, T-A-K-A-T-O, is currently outside of the service area. Please try your call again later."_ Terriermon's voice joked from the dark corners of his mind.

could you…uh," again Rika's voice came from every direction.

It's like his head was stuck in a fog, but something cut through it. A bright blue light.

Make that two glowing blue orbs.

"_That's funny; I don't remember having a light up lamp on my bed?"_

It took half a heartbeat for his brain to piece together what it was.

It wasn't a glowing light.

It was Renamon's eyes.

He could see that they were narrowed dangerously at him, and that her finger was wagging in an 'uh uh ah' manner.

"_Oh snap…"_

Blinking rapidly, Takato shook his head to clear out the 'brain fog'.

"Oh, yeah, uh, I'll be down stairs…umm…goodnight," Takato said quickly before turning to leave.

"Hey I still need a towel! And a."

"Way ahead of you, I grabbed that on the way up," Takato said pointing at a fluffy white towel on the top bunk before continuing. "Just check the closet across from the shower, that's where we keep everything else."

Turning on his heel, Takato moved as quickly as he could out of the 'danger area' (Diamond Storm's firing range) and closed the door behind him, letting out a sigh of relief and oddly, contentment.

"_Whew, that was a close one."_

Taking a moment to catch his breath, Takato couldn't help the subtle blush and smile on his face.

Walking down stairs, Takato pulled out a blanket from the linen closet, along with a spar pillow, and finally a quilt. It was still cold outside, and since the bottom floor had most of the windows, he knew from experience that it got a bit cold at night.

"Guilmon! Where are you boy?!" Takato called out.

A few seconds passed before a series of thumps could be heard coming from the kitchen.

"Here Takatomon! I'm here!"

Smiling, Takato shook his head at the sight.

"Guilmon, I told you to stay out of the cooking supplies. If you wanted something to eat, you could have just waited a minute for me, you know that."

The red dinosaur, now with a large white spot on his snout gave his best 'pout' possible.

"I'm sorry Takatomon….how did you know?"

Laughing, Takato rubbed the flour from his partner's snout as he replied.

"Call it a hunch. Do you want a blanket or a pillow? We've got extra."

Guilmon walked in a circle in front of the couch three times before settling down and curling up into a ball.

"Here fine. Guilmon go nighty night."

Smiling at his friends antics, Takato stepped over Guilmon and climbed onto the couch. Pulling the blanket and quilt up, he looked down at Guilmon with a smile.

"Night Guilmon."

Then, turning to face the other way, she smiled at the staircase. "Good night Rika _yawn_ sweet dreams."

Looking up, Takato found himself standing in the middle of Shinjuku Park. A place he had come to see as his home away from home.

But something was…off. Everything had a grey tone to it, like he was standing in the middle of a cloud, or a mist.

"_What's going on? Where is everybody?"_ Trying to move, Takato found that his muscles wouldn't respond, as if some unseen force was holding him in place.

"_Ok, this is starting to get really creepy. Where is everyone? Why is it so quiet? I can't even hear the birds chirping, or any cars. What's going on?"_

"Takato, hey, Takato!" Hearing his name called out, Takato looked up to see two black images phase into existence before him. They looked little more than blobs at first, but they soon changed shape into a pair of humons.

"_What the…oh no, not another one of these dreams."_ Takato thought with a groan. _"Why can't I ever dream about hanging out with my friends, or finally beating Rika? Just once I'd like to have a normal dream!"_

The human shapes became more and more defined until he was able to make them out.

Both stood side by side, but they were facing opposite directions. Less than a second later, they started moving. At the same time, he suddenly found himself in the middle of the two, only able to see their backs.

"_Why am I…why am I dreaming about them? It doesn't make any sense."_

"Jeri, what's going on?" Seeing that she hadn't stopped moving, Takato turned to the other.

"Rika, where are you going?"

"Four years….four years….I'm tired of waiting…."

"_What is she talking about? Four years? I'm tired of waiting? Waiting for what?"_

"Gogglehead…wake…up…now," the voice called out again.

"_Who is that? What's going on?!"_ Takato called out as everything around him started to bend and twist before blending together in a spiral of color, fading to black.

"_I can't move, I can't get out, I can't do anything! What kind of dream is this?!"_

"Please….I…need help," the voice called out again, this time much weaker than before.

Looking up, he could see what looked like a small point of light in the solid black wall. Pin head sized at first, but it quickly grew several inches before a slender arm reached through it.

"_That…voice…she was calling for help…"_ With a determined look on his face, Takato 'swam' towards the arm sticking through the hole in the wall. Reaching it, he grabbed the hand with his left, and the arm itself with his right, and pulled as strong as he could.

Blinking, Takato made out a white light overhead, filling the area with a soft warm glow. Moving his head slightly to look up, he was able to make out a form of some sort. Blinking a second time, the form took a more solid shape.

One of a very attractive, yet slightly nervous teenage girl.

"Is…this….another dream?" He asked groggily.

The girl cleared her throat before looking down at him even more nervous.

"I…there's a problem."

"_Problem…Rika? Its Rika….so…is there a bioemergence? Why else would she wake me up? Crud, if it is a Wild One, then I have to get up."_

Trying to pull himself up, Takato was surprised when Rika's nervous face became even more frightened.

"Don't move!" She hissed before continuing. "Look, there….is…is there any way to open your door if it's locked from the inside?" Rika asked in a hushed tone, though there was a panicky edge to it.

"_Get inside if it's locked? Oh…she must…have."_

"Wha…why? Did you lock yourself out or something?"

Rika nodded in response, but broke eye contact and looked away.

"Oh…no big…I'll get _yawn_ it for you, just give me a sec," Takato said as he again tried to get up.

This time, instead of holding him down with her 'will' Rika opted to simply push him on his back with one arm.

"_What is her problem? I'm just trying to help._

"Just tell me how to do it! Please,…don't get up," she pleaded.

Looking at her face, Takato knew that something was wrong.

"_She's not just worried about something…she's afraid of something!" _That little ember from earlier flared to life again.

"Rika, are you ok? What happened?"

"Look, I just…I need to know how. I can't tell you why, but you just have to trust me."

Takato opened his mouth to speak, when he heard footsteps coming down the stairs

"Takato? Are you down there?"

About to respond, Takato saw Rika's face go from slightly afraid, to outright mortified.

"_Did she do something? Is mom after her? No, Rika wouldn't do anything bad, not on purpose anyway."_

"Rika? What's going on?" Takato asked, worried about the way Rika was acting, and confused at how his mother fit into this.

Seeing Rika's head drop even lower, he was sure that there had been an accident of some sort, but his thinking was interrupted by something he never in a million years had expected to see.

Rika, clad in only in a plain white towel.

It was only for a brief second, as Renamon's unspoken warning clicked his mind, he didn't dare look to see anything lower than her shoulder.

"Rika? Why are you?"

Seeing her head lower even further, and a look of pure shame on her face, Takato felt everything fall into place.

"_She must have locked the door when she went to take a shower, that's why she was so nervous before. And now moms coming…oh no mom! If she finds Rika down here…no, I'm not going to let that happen. Rika's been through enough today, I'm not going to let some little mistake like this break her. I need to hide her, but there's no time to move her anywhere but outside, and I'm not shoving her out there in the middle of the night in a towel! The only other place I could hide her would be…that's it!"_

Reaching out, Takato grabbed Rika by the arm and started pushing her back.

Rika looked up and met his eyes with a fierce glare, but he could still see that horrible touch of fear in the back of her eyes.

Reaching the couch, Takato pushed her back so that she fell where he had been sleeping.

"Takato?! What are you?!"

"Shissh! Keep quiet, and whatever you do don't move!"

"_If this is going to work, I have to cover her completely…..but then mom will see the lump under the covers, how would I explain…"_

He had no clue where the idea came from, nor did he care. He knew it would work, he knew it would keep Rika out of trouble, and at the moment, he knew that was the only thing that he cared about.

Leaning down, he put one hand on her shoulder and the other on her knees, and quickly pushed her back as far as he could into the couch. Hearing the footsteps grow louder, and knowing he was almost out of time, Takato rolled onto the couch so that he could feel her against his back before reaching down and pulling the blanket and quilt over top of them both. Adjusting himself slightly, he made sure that Rika's head was lower than his shoulders so her hair wouldn't be seen.

Taking a second to catch his breath, Takato became aware of the fact that they were close enough that he could actually feel Rika _breathing _on him, but that thought vanished as soon as he saw his moms head poke into the living room.

"Takato? Are you in here?"

Feeling Rika flinch, against his back, Takato put his best acting foot forward.

"_Ok, her life might not be in danger, but she's still counting on me, come on Takato, you've got to pull through this time."_

"Yeah mom?" Takato asked, making sure to sound like he had just woken up.

While not surprised by his mom entering the room, he was surprised to see his dad with her.

Keeping his act up, Takato watched his parents closely as they approached him. He felt a sudden wave of doubt begin to flood his system as they approached though.

"_What if I mess up? What if they still can see her? What if I missed something? I don't want Rika getting into even more trouble."_

Confidence slipping by the second, Takato's eyes widened for a brief second when he felt something touch his hand.

Then tighten around it.

It took him a second to figure out what it was, but the feeling of five nails digging into his palm told him all that he needed to know.

"_She's counting on me; and there is no way I am going to let her down."_

"I was just checking on you. I tried to open your door but it was locked from the inside, you're not hiding anything are you?"

For a second, Takato actually considered telling them the truth, if only because he knew they would think he was joking. But that idea died instantly when he realized that Rika would be upset by it. So, he decided to act the same way he did every time his dad tried to give him advice.

"MOM!"

"Mie, honey, leave the boy alone. He's had a long day, and I doubt his friend would have gone through the trouble of staying here just to,"

"DAD!"

Feeling that her breathing had slowed a bit, Takato knew that Rika was at least calming down. Yet, her grip on his hand remained just as strong.

"_Ok, now I have to get them to go away. The longer they're here, the more likely they'll find out._

"Can't you just let me sleep in peace? I've got a ton of homework due Monday, and I told you already that I'm not missing the Digimon marathon Sunday," Takato said, for the first time in his life actually thankful for Mrs. Asaji's dump truck load of homework for the weekends.

Seeing his father chuckle and wrap one arm around his mother, Takato knew that his father was coming to his aid yet again, even if he didn't know it.

"Come on dear, let the boy sleep. He's got the morning shift tomorrow too after all."

"_I knew I forgot something, so much for having fun hanging out with Rika tomorrow…well…at least tomorrow morning."_

Takato's parents turned and left the room, and as soon as he heard them reach the first step, he felt Rika let go of his hand.

"_I guess that means she wants' out."_

Getting up, he pulled the cover and quilt back, but as soon as he saw Rika's bare shoulders he turned to face away.

"Sorry about shoving you like that. I just didn't want you getting in trouble."

"Ye-yeah, quick thinking there Tak-Gogglehead."

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Takato moved towards the stairway.

"Come on, let's get you back upstairs before mom comes back, or dad gets the midnight munchies."

Moving as quickly as they could, while at the same time trying to keep as quiet as possible, the two cautiously made their way up stairs. Takato made sure that Rika was behind him so that he could check to see if his parents where not in their room, and to keep certain things out of his view.

After everything he had been though today, the Wrath of Rika was the last thing he wanted to go up against.

"_Besides, I don't think mom and dad would like the explanation of why Gallantmon was getting thrashed in our living room by an angry Sakuyamon."_

Once they got to his room, Takato grabbed the top of the door frame and started to feel around for his 'spare key'.

"_Come on, where are you? I hope mom didn't dust up here again, because I don't think Rika's got a lot of patience left in her after everything she's been through today." _Suddenly feeling a slight prick on his finger, Takato grinned. _"Bingo!"_

"Is that a?"

Without looking behind him, Takato replied.

"Yeah, it's a paper clip. I've locked myself out a couple of times in the past, and I didn't want to have to come down stairs looking for one every time it happened," he said as he pushed the thin end inside the small hole and twisted it until a 'pop' sound was heard.

Twisting the door knob, Takato opened the door before turning to face down the hall towards his parents room.

"Go on, get in, I'll put this back after your inside," Takato said nervously.

"_Breath in, breath out, come on Takato, stay focused here. It's almost over. Don't look; don't look, what ever you do don't look or it will be the last thing you ever see."_

A small part in the back of his mind however pointed out that there were far worst things that could be the last thing you ever saw.

"Gogglehead?"

"Hmm? Something wrong?" Takato asked, still looking towards his parents room.

"_Don't look, don't look, don't look. It's like the sun. Beautiful, but will blind you if you stare at it."_

"Gogglehead, look at me when I'm talking to you," Rika quietly demanded.

_Snap_

Time stopped for the poor 'Gogglehead' that instant.

"_Look at her? Is she out of her freaking mind! I thought we were friends, is she just looking for an excuse to kill me?!"_

_Poof_

"Aw, what's the matter Takato?"

Takato's face blanched.

"_Oh Kami no, not him, not now! If Rika see's Terriermon here she'll flip!"_

"Momentai silly. I'm not really here. I'm just part of your normal everyday overactive imagination."

Blinking, Takato looked for the source of the voice, and was surprised to see it was a tiny Terriermon perched on his right shoulder.

The tiny Terriermon, at seeing that he had been 'seen' waved happily.

"Hiya!"

"_Ok…this is weird…."_

"Why are you here?" Takato asked carefully.

"I don't know. It's your imagination. But I think it has something to do with what Rika just said a second ago." Terriermon said scratching his chin.

"_Oh…that…"_

"What should I do?"

Terriermon shot him a look that told him. "What are you? Stupid?"

"You turn to face her dum dum. Take advantage of it though, I doubt you'll ever get another chance like this again."

Now red as a jalapeno pepper, Takato sputtered.

"W-what? Sh-she'll kill me!?"

Terriermon blinked slowly. "So…what's your point? Ever heard the phrase 'worth dying for?"

Takato blinked. "Wait a second, isn't there supposed to be another guy here too?"

Terriermon grinned sheepishly. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

_Poof_

"Terriermon….next time you try to block my door with a chair, make sure the door doesn't open inwards." Henry said with a tired and annoyed expression.

Takato blinked again.

"Uhhh…ok…I would have thought Lopmon would have been the 'good bunny' why are you here?"

Henry shrugged. "I guess your imagination needed to personify your instincts and heart as two separate individuals. Based on everyone you know, it chose us because we fit the parts best."

"But wouldn't Angemon and Devimon had made more sense? Or even Omnimon and Deboramon?"

Henry and Terriermon both shrugged.

"_Ok…moms right…I watch wayyyy to much TV."_

"Sooo…if Terriermon is telling me why I should look, I guess you're going to be telling tell me why I shouldn't right?"

Henry held his chin and lowered his head in thought. "Well, she did say to look at her when she was talking to you, but I think she meant as you normally do, not as in take a chance to give her the once over," Henry offered.

"But Henry! She said to LOOK AT HER when she was talking to him, she never said to look her in the eye!" Terriermon countered.

"Terreiermon," Henry said, aggravation clear in his voice.

"And like I said, when do you think you'll ever get another chance like this? This is Rika we're talking about, you know, as in the same Rika that never even goes swimming? You'll never even see her in a swim suit, much less like this again. Take the shot you're given, and if she kills you, then at least you can die happy right?"

Henry snapped his finger.

"Terriermon, you just lost your own argument," Henry said with a grin.

Terriermon blinked in confusion.

"Huh?"

"Takato, remember how Rika always turned down everyone's offers at pool parties or going to the beach?" Henry asked pointedly.

Takato nodded.

"Think about it. Her mother is a professional model, that alone is enough to make her a bit…nervous about how she looks, but like everyone when they're a teenager, she's going to be extremely self conscious about how she looks to others."

"Huh? What are you talking about? We're the same age and I've never cared about how I looked."

Terriermon and Henry both sweat dropped.

"You're a…special case Takato," Henry said before continuing. "The point is, Rika, as confident as she is in most things, has her weak points. You yourself said that the only things that get to her are emotional based. Well, this is sort of like that."

"Oh come on Takato! You can't even understand half of what he's saying. So she might be a little ticked off, not like that's never happened before." Terriermon pointed out.

"That's where you're wrong Terriermon."

Takato was surprised at how serious Henry's voice had suddenly become.

"What?"

Henry's eyes were closed, showing that he was deep in thought.

"Takato…how many friends does Rika have?"

It took a moment for the question to register, but he couldn't understand why it had come up in the first place.

"She's got all of us right? I mean, her mom, grandmother, Renamon, the Tamers."

Henry shook his head. "Takato, family is not the same as friends. She see's Renamon as a sister, so she falls under the same category. As for the Tamers, how often do you ever see her talk to Kazu or Kenta?"

Takato quarked an eyebrow at this. "I…don't get it."

Opening his eyes Henry stared Takato directly in the eye.

"How many people do you see Rika walk up to, and talk to on her own, not because she needs something, but because she actually wants to talk to them?"

Thinking back, Takato had a rather hard time coming up with much of anyone.

"She has you, Jeri, and on occasion me and Ryo. She trusts you more than anyone else excluding her family Takato. You know things about her that nobody else does. That alone says a lot when it comes to her. If you were to 'look' then you would be breaking that trust she has in you."

Terriermon kicked a scuff mark on Takato's shoulder at that point, knowing that he had lost.

"Thanks Henry."

Henry smiled before he and Terriermon both disappeared in a white poof.

Feeling time restart, Takato made his decision.

"_Remember what Henry said. She trust's you. It's taken four years to build up that trust, don't sacrifice it for a four second peak."_

Turning his head slowly, as soon as Takato saw Rika out of the corner of his vision, he raised his head slightly.

"_Don't even think about it. I'm not going to betray her trust in me; I'm going to prove that her trust in me is worth it."_

Coming to a stop, Takato focused his eyes directly into hers.

As always, he could see a storm of emotion brewing in those deep violet orbs.

"_I see….a little bit of fear there still, but….I can see that she's….happy about something too….probably that this night is almost over. I doubt she even cares that I looked her in the eye really. I mean, come on, nervous about how she looks? Caring what other people think about how she looks? Being nervous about anything? This is Rika! Nothing gets to her."_

"I'm not very good at this, but…thanks."

Takato blinked.

"That's it?" _"And here I thought she was going to explode on me or something. She's not going to kill me in my sleep!"_

Rika's eyebrow rose in a warning manner.

"Yes, why? Were you expecting someth," before she could finish, the boy cut in.

"No! Absolutely not!" _"Don't kill me in my sleep!"_

Still focused on her eyes, Takato saw something emerge from their depths, like a great beast lumbering from the bottom of the ocean.

"_Wait a minute, I know that look. That's the same look she has on her face every time I think I'm about to finally beat her."_

He suddenly saw himself as a minnow being chased by a very large shark.

"There is something else actually."

Takato gulped.

"Th-there is?"

Rika nodded. "Yeah, something I almost forgot," she said before leaning closer to him.

"_Oh man, is she...no, she wouldn't do that, not to me anyways….would she?"_ Takato thought with just a tiny glimmer of hope.

Once she was only a few inches away from his face, her smirk dropped into her usual stone cold expression. "If you tell anyone about what happened here tonight, you'll find out firsthand just how I earned the title of Digimon Queen. Kapesh?" Rika threatened, crushing his tiny glimmer of hope into a thousand pieces.

Takato gulped again before answering. "Ka-ka-kapesh." _"Stupid Takato! What were you thinking?!"_

"Oh, and Takato, you need to take a shower. You stink," she added before closing the door with a smirk.

Blinking several times, still trying to figure out exactly what had happened, Takato didn't know what he should feel.

"Great, now for a cold shower," he muttered before slumping his shoulders and heading to the bathroom.

End Chapter 2

AN: Ok, now before anyone says I left out something in the previous chapter, I'll point out that each chapter is told from a separate POV. This means that if it wasn't in a specific chapter, it's because that person didn't notice it. Like in this one where Rika held Takato's hand, it was an unconscious action on her part. She didn't know she did it, so you didn't read it last chapter. This goes to prove my point that we do things that not everybody notices, including ourselves in everyday life. I've given a few more clues as to what is going on with Jeri, but the majority of the clues will be in the last two chapters. I hope I did Henry and Terriermon justice here though…

OMAKE! (If you don't know what this is, it's a little joke section found in the back of most Manga. I usually do them every few chapters with my work, as a way to show off anything I wanted to use but decided didn't fit with the flow of things. This is a piece of the original script for this chapter, but I wanted to make the moment more serious to show how Takato puts his friends first, so this wonderful piece that took me two days to write had to go, as it was just too silly. Enjoy!

"Rika? What's going on?" Takato asked, worried about the way Rika was acting, and confused at how his mother fit into this.

Seeing Rika's head drop even lower, he was sure that there had been an accident of some sort, but his thinking was interrupted by something he never in a million years had expected to see.

Rika, clad in only in a plain white towel.

"_Ok Takato, don't panic, just because you've got a girl wearing nothing but a towel less than three feet away from you and your moms about to come busting in and see you, come on, you need a plan….what would the Digidestend have done? Yeah! Think like Tai! The crest of Courage!"_

_*Dream Vision*_

Tai turned bright red before his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fainted, his head landing no more than a foot away from Sora's feet.

"Tai!!" Sora shouted as she blushed red from her hair to her toes, took a step back before delivering a high powered kick to the unconscious (yet still smiling) teen.

_*End Dream*_

"_Ok…not exactly what I was hoping for…what about Matt? He was always pretty cool about things."_

_*Dream Vision*_

Looking inside the kitchen, Matt rolled his eyes at the sight of his father, passed out from exhaustion and asleep with his head in a plate of pizza.

"_Looks like all that overtime finally caught up with him."_

Turning to look back at the girl, Matt shrugged. "Come on, my rooms this way."

_*End Dream*_

"_Ok, that's not fair, his dad was out cold! Come on! One of them would have come up with something! Wait! That's it! Izzy! He always came up with a plan when they were in trouble!"_

_*Dream Vision*_

"Prodigious! So that's the program that modifies our clothes when we go into the digital world. Now, if I can find a way to rewrite the program as a GOTO command, I should be able to make it work for when we come out of the," Izzy's musings were brought to a screeching halt when he felt a light tap his shoulder.

"Mimi, I told you that you can stay here until your parents come back from Okinawa, but only if you let me work. For the hundredth time, I am not going to write a program that makes a person immune from pimples by going through a digital gate!" Izzy shouted as his fingers twitched.

"Oh don't be silly, this is something completely different, I swear," Mimi said giggling.

Shoulders slumping, Izzy resigned himself to the fact that the false pinkette would not leave him alone until after he answered whatever question it was this time.

_Sigh_

"Ok Mimi, what is it?"

"Well, I was wondering, what do you think about my new towel?"

"_New towel? What is she talking about?"_

Turning to face his long time friend, Izzy stopped at the sight before him, and then fainted, landing on, and breaking his new lap top.

"What's his problem?" Palamon asked, clearly confused by the boys actions.

Tapping her chin thoughtfully, Mimi responded.

"You know, I'm really not sure. Either he thinks it's really good, or he thinks it's really bad." Mimi replied before looking back down at the towel she was wearing.

"I guess I'll have to wait till he wakes up form his little nap to ask him."

_*End Dream*_

"_What the?!? Where did that even come from?! It didn't even have to do with my problem! Ok, Joe's just plain out, and so is TK…what about the 02 guys? Yeah! Davis had the crest's of Courage, Friendship and Miracles!"_

_*Dream Vision*_

"Hey no fair Demiveemon! That's cheating!" Davis shouted at his pint sized partner for pulling his controller cord from the game system.

"All's fair in love and war!" Demiveemon replied before laughing at the sight of his partner's car exploding into a million burning pieces.

"Boom!"

"Uh…Davis….I have a little problem here, could you give me a hand?" Kai asked nervously.

Grinning from ear to ear, Davis jumped from his seat.

"Coming Kaaaarrrreeeeee."

Making it three steps from his spot on the couch, Davis looked up and saw the 'problem'

"Ahhhhe….eeh….uh..heee….."

Dizzy, the poor boy fell forwards and grabbed onto the only thing he could to avoid slamming into the ground.

"AAAHH!"

_SMACK_

Several loud thumps were heard before the door slammed opened.

"Kari?! What happened?!"

"PERVERT!"

While only semi conscious, Davis recognized the sound of knuckles cracking, and distantly remembered having invited over Tai to help him get though a level on his new game, and TJ (or whatever his name is) because Kari said it would make her happy.

"Huh? Oh…hey Tai, TJ, what's….up?"

After several minutes of severe beating, Davis only had one last thought before drifting off into the sweet bliss of dream land.

"_I have seen the light!"_

_*End Dream*_

"_Oh that's right…the miracle of course would be that he survived the beating….man, his luck really did suck in the show come to think of it...but man, that doesn't help me at all! Ok, what about Ken? He was like, a super genius, and he never lost his cool! He would have come up with something!"_

_*Dream Vision*_

"No Davis, there is no instant cure for a seven way compound fracture. You'll just have to let it heal on its own." Ken said with a sigh as he hung up his cell phone and shook his head.

"_And I thought my luck was bad."_

A sudden pounding of foot steps grabbed his attention immediately. Spinning from his computer seat, Ken was met with a very curious sight to say the least.

"Yolie? Um…did you forget something?"

At hearing her friend's voice, the girl let out a squeak of surprise.

"Ken! Oh thank Kami. I need you help! You're parents got here when I was in the shower, you have to hide me!"

Frowning, the boy scratched his chin for a moment.

"Wormmon, go stall my parents, I just need a minute ok?"

The small green digimon nodded as he jumped down from Ken's shoulder and wrmpled his way down the hall.

"I'll see if they want any of the cookies I baked while they were out. Oh I forgot Ken, they're chocolate chip, your favorite. Do you want any?"

Shaking his head with a chuckle, Ken responded.

"Maybe later Wormmon, but not until after I've,"

"AH HEM" Yolie 'discreetly' indicated her current state of dress with a wave of the hand before holding out her other hand and clinching it into a fist, as if to promise pain if they continued to ignore her.

"Right, Wormmon, you know what to do."

Turning back to his friend Ken pulled out his D3 and opened a digiport on his computer.

"Ok Yoile, you go through and take my D3 with you. As soon as you can, open another digigate to your home. You can hold onto my D3 until we meet up again ok?" Ken answered calmly.

_*End Dream*_

"_ARRGH THAT'S NOT FAIR! My D-Arc can open a digigate! And my computers upstairs! Ok, what about Cody? What would he do?"_

_*Dream Vision*_

"I know that I'll get in trouble, and I know that my friend will probably be embarrassed beyond belief, but my father wouldn't want me hiding things or lying to mom. So I will wait for her, then the three of us will discuss what happened and what we can do to fix this problem," Cody said with crossed arms.

_*Dream End*_

"_SCREW THAT! Mom would kill me! Then Rika would find a way to bring me back to life and kill me again! I need to find a way to hide her, but what can I…that's it! I'll hide her under the blankets!"_

End of Omake!

Well, I hope you guys/girls enjoyed that. I'm new to digimon, but I hope that I didn't do too badly with the adventure 01/02 cast members. This was my first time writing them. I decided against this version because like I said, I wanted to make it more serious. This whole story started out as a joke, but oddly enough it's taken on a life of its own, and it demanded that Takato not be a 'Gogglehead' when it comes to helping his friends. I posted the removed scene because I thought you might enjoy reading it still.

Hope you'll come back to read again! Till next time!

Ja Ne!


	3. His Hope

That night, through my eyes

His Hope

AN: Well, I want to thank those of you who have stuck with me through this. I realize that I'm still new to this, but I hope you can endure my mistakes. I went back and edited the previous chapters so they are more reader friendly now. I was just in such a rush to get my idea out before I forgot it. I guess I forgot to clean it up first. *Sweat drops* Anyways, as the new summery said, this time we get to see what happened with the stories quietest character, Guilmon. Also, there will be a significant piece of the puzzle given here, but not all of it, I've made sure to keep two last pieces hidden for the final chapter. (Two guesses who its POV it is from lol) Oh, and my poll is still up for those that want to help out with my and a fellow fans discussion. I wanted to take this time to point out that I meant normal plain jane MirageGaomon, not including Burst Mode, if that makes any difference.

This chapter is dedicated to Crazyeight for helping me get inside Guilmon's head for both this chapter, and my developing project. I had a vague outline on him, but you pretty much gave me his blueprints, so thanks man! I owe you one!...or two…three…hmmm…how many was it up to now?

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon, I own a DVD set of it now (03, the best season ever) but that's it. Digimon and its characters are the property of Bandi Namco Entertainment.

_Flashback_

"Where are you Guilmon bread? Come out come out wherever you are!" Guilmon called out happily as he dug through his food stash.

"_I know I hid it here last week. Where did it go?"_

Following the Locomon incident, the Tamers had decided to keep a permanent 'guard' stationed at the portal to the digital world.

The reason was simple. An open gateway between the two worlds was a very dangerous thing, but at the same time they couldn't simply cover it over with concrete, as without it they had no reliable way of getting to the digital world in the event of an emergency. So, they took week long shifts, as each of the Tamer's partners could easily handle anything less than an Ultimate on their own, the partner was able to go about their normal routine. (Even though most of the time they would stay with their partner before and after school, some (Takato) would even spend the night.)

This week happened to be Guilmon's turn.

"Awe, Impmon must have found it again," Guilmon said disappointedly.

Suddenly, Guilmon felt a familiar tug from the back of his mind.

"Takatomon's in trouble!"

Without a second thought, Guilmon ran out from the Tamer's hideout towards the school.

"_It must be big. I can't remember the last time Takato was this angry. Someone must be hurt."_

Now in full out 'protect mode' Guilmon's only thoughts were getting to the school and reaching his partner before anyone else was hurt.

Of course, since he was more concerned with the destination, and not the journey, he ran directly into a wall.

A wall that he distinctly remembered not being there the day before.

That also happened to be yellow?

"Ugff"

Blinking, Guilmon looked down into a pair of extremely annoyed bluish grey eyes.

"Oh! Hi Renamon! No time to talk now, Takato's in trouble!" Guilmon shouted as he pushed himself up off of her.

"Guilmon, there is no need for you to go anywhere. Takato is fine, as are the others," Renamon stated calmly.

"But, but, Takato's angry! Takato needs help!"

Sighing, the yellow fox pushed herself up before dusting herself off.

"While I agree that your Tamer does in fact need help, it is not the sort you can provide," Renamon said under her breath.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Renamon blinked in surprise before focusing on his bat like ears and sighing.

"Guilmon, your Tamer is in no danger at this moment. I was there just a minute ago. And yes, Takato is _very_ angry right now, but he is in no danger. I came to prevent you from causing a scene. Right now, that is the last thing he needs to deal with."

Guilmon blinked.

"Huh?"

Shaking her head, Renamon turned to leave.

"Go back to the hideout and wait for your Tamer. I suspect he will have company when he arrives this afternoon."

"Company? Yeah! We can play tag!"

Renamon stopped for a moment before turning to face the red dinosaur with a serious (well, more than usually serious) expression on her face.

"Guilmon, if you pretend to be asleep until after they leave, I will make sure that you have all the bread you can eat for next week. Does that sound like a fair trade?"

Guilmon tilted his head to the side in confusion.

"But…Takato has been gone all day. I was hoping we could play," he said as his ears drooped.

Renamon took a few steps forward before lowering herself to one knee, so they could see eye to eye.

"I understand that Guilmon, but today…today needs to be different. I promise, it is just for one day, and it is for a good reason. Do you understand?"

Seeing the look in Renamon's eyes, Guilmon knew that is must have been important. Added to that, in the four years he had known her, Renamon had never once asked anything of him before.

Besides, her bribe _was_ a good one.

"Ok, but only for today right?" Guilmon asked, still not exactly happy but at least willing to go along with it.

The fox smiled as she nodded her head.

"Good, now go back to the hideout Guilmon. I think we shall be seeing each other again soon," she said before disappearing in a yellow flash.

"Ok! Bye bye Renamon!" Guilmon said before running back to the hideout.

_Flashback end_

"Woah! Careful Guilmon!" Takato shouted from inside his bubble before ducking behind a nearby wall.

Several seconds passed before the boy let out a relieved sigh.

"Whew, that was a close one huh boy?"

"Hmm?"

Hearing Takato sigh, and sensing that his partner was distressed, Guilmon did what any friend would have.

"Takatomon, is something wrong?" Guilmon asked innocently.

The boy let out a tired sigh before replying.

"No, nothing's wrong. I'm just a little…off I guess."

"Because of Rika?" He asked, sensing the subject of his Tamer's thoughts.

"W-what? Why would you say that? She's been to my place plenty of times!"

Guilmon took a moment to figure out exactly how he wanted to word this. He was curious about what had happened earlier today, but at the same time he didn't want to push his Tamer this late at night.

"No…not that….you just…always act funny when Rika is upset."

Even though they were biomerged, and Guilmon could easily read his thoughts should he want too, he preferred to actually talk to his Tamer, as simply reading his thoughts usually just left him more confused than before.

"Takato gets angry when he see's Rika upset, makes big boom!" Guilmon shouted excitedly before laughing.

Takato sweat dropped as he picked up Guilmon thinking about the Parking Garage incident, then the IceDevimon incident, and lastly the Locomon incident.

"Uhh…"

"Takato got really mad today, I was going to come because I thought there was a fight, but Renamon stopped me."

Just as Gallantmon reached the alley on the opposite side of the street, he came to a stop.

"What? When did that happen?"

"Today….not sure when, it was after I finished my first jar of peanut butter, but before I finished my bread," he replied.

"Oh…that…uh…yeah. Somebody said something about Digimon being for little babies and I got mad, sorry if I made you worry," Takato replied nervously.

Though he knew it wasn't true, Guilmon kept silent. Knowing that his Tamer only lied when it was something _very_ personal. Grand total, Guilmon could only recall two, maybe three things that fit this description, and they _all_ involved Rika in some way.

"_Did Rika call Takatomon her family too, like Jeri did?"_

"Come on, we're almost there Guilmon."

"_I hope Takato is ok."_

"Ok, we need to find a spot to Dedigivolve, but it can't be too close to the house. I don't want mom to see us."

"_Hmm someplace safe…Takatomon's house has lots of windows…"_

"How about the big building with one wall?" Guilmon offered.

"Big building with one wall…oh the new shop they're building down the street, good idea!"

Peeking out from the corner of the building, Gallantmon made a break for it and quickly ran around the side of the building's one finished wall.

"**Ok, here is good."**

"Hey! Watch it Gogglehead!"

Gallantmon looked down to find the source of the familiar voice.

"**Huh? Oh, sorry Rika!"**

"Alright boy, separate now!"

A bright red flash filled the area for a brief second before fading into nothingness, leaving behind a somewhat confused red dinosaur and a very frightened teen in its place.

"_But if Rika called Takatomon family, he would be sad, but he's not sad. So Rika was part of it, but it was not that…then what was it?"_

Looking up, Guilmon saw the one person who could possibly help him.

"_Renamon would know what happened. But she won't talk to me if Rika is here..."_ Guilmon's ears drooped at that point. He was worried about his friend and Tamer.

For the last couple of weeks, Takato had been much quieter than he had ever been in the past. At first, Guilmon had actually thought that it was Renamon trying to trick him, but he knew Takato's scent better than any other, and the scent of the being who looked like Takato, but was quieter than Renamon, was in fact Takato.

"_But why is he happy now? The only thing different about today from the last few weeks was Rika."_

"What took you so long? We've been waiting out here for almost ten minutes!" Rika Hissed.

"S-sorry Rika, but we, we got a little turned around. It's not like I could just run down the sidewalk or across the street." Takato defended.

Only barely hearing the two humans talking, Guilmon focused on Renamon. His friend and occasional tooter in 'proper' behavior only shot him a side glance before shaking her head softly. That, he recognized meant 'not now, later'.

Guilmon was about to thank her when he remembered another of her previous lessons.

"_If I do not respond using words, then neither should you."_

It had confused the little red raptor a great deal at first, but he soon figured out that it meant she would speak to him privately because the subject was in some way sensitive.

So, he responded with a single nod.

"How'd you get here so fast anyway? Renamon poof you the whole way?" He heard Takato ask.

At this the yellow fox stepped forward.

"No, I have not used Kohenkyo since before the battle with the MetalMamamon. Rika ran on her own, while I used the roof tops to avoid drawing attention to myself," Renamon replied coolly.

It took everything Guilmon had not to laugh at his Tamer's expression.

"_Takatomon looks like Vilemon!"_

"You mean you ran the entire way? All the way from the park, to my place?"

Rika nodded.

"And you're perfectly fine? You don't feel like, dropping dead or coughing up a lung?" Takao asked suspiciously.

Guilmon watched as Rika's face switched back to looking like it had when Renamon first kicked him into the parks fence.

"What? You don't think I could do it just because I'm a girl?"

Takato raised his hands in defense.

"No! No! Nothing like that! I was just surprised, that's all….You're in really good shape."

Seeing Rika turn away from Takato with her face red, Guilmon guessed that Takato had made her angry again.

"_Why is Rika always mad at Takato? Seiko said that Rika is always happy around Takato, but she always looks so mad. Maybe Rika is only happy if she's angry? That might be why she is always around Takato, he always makes her angry,"_ he reasoned.

"So how do we explain this to your parents? It can't be too often that you have company stay overnight."

"Hey! That's not true. Henry's been here a couple of times, and me Kazu and Kenta had a few video game tournaments that lasted through till morning. Even Jeri stayed over the night after we took down the D-Reaper."

Rika stopped in her tracks and spun to face the boy with a glare.

"_Uh oh, now Rika's really angry. I hope Takato doesn't get sad again. I want Takato to be happy,"_ Guilmon thought worriedly as he watched the two argue again.

" _Rika argues more with Takato than she does with Ryo."_ He heard Renamon's voice come from every direction.

Guilmon looked up at Renamon before blinking. Looking around he noticed that everything was black, but there were several bright lights around himself and Renamon who was now standing in front of him. He recognized this to be Renamon's 'between' world.

"_Renamon?"_

"_Yes Guilmon?"_

Guilmon smiled. _"Can we talk now Renamon? I'm worried about Takato."_

The yellow fox shook her head. _"Not yet Guilmon. After they are asleep then we can speak, but not any sooner. Until then, help Takato in any way you can without drawing too much attention to yourself. Is that clear?"_

Guilmon nodded his head before noticing that everything had 'started' again.

"Oh? And let me guess, Mr. Perfect spends every weekend here too right?" Rika asked harshly.

"I..uh…no. Ryo's never even been here before. At least I don't think he has. You two are the only ones that haven't….well, unless you count Suzie, Ai and Mako, they haven't either, but they have stopped by to pick up bread with their parents a few times in the," Rika cut him off.

"Look, I'm _really_, really tired. I haven't eaten anything since lunch, and I just want to call it a night. So, could you please cut the useless chit chat and get this over with?"

Frowning as the two argued, Guilmon tried to think of a way to help, but then they suddenly stopped.

"Sorry about that. I guess I got a bit carried away." Takato said before turning to look at Renamon.

"Can you…uhh…can you pretend that you were hurt? Or that you're tired?"

Renamon was about to reply when Rika cut in.

"Just act like you would after being around Terriermon all day."

The effect was immediate. The yellow fox's shoulders slumped and her face became so devoid of emotion that it was hard to tell if she was sleep walking, or just very tired.

"That good enough?"

Takato snickered before nodding. "Yeah, she looks like she went ten rounds with Beezlemon."

"_But Terriermon is fun?!"_ Guilmon thought, slightly 'hurt'.

"Uh, Gogglehead, we just got back from a big battle remember? Can you act at least a little tired?"

Renamon and Guilmon both watched Takato intently as he ruffled his hair and clothes, though Guilmon was confused by the action, he figured that his friend knew what he was doing.

"Just don't tell my mom we were in any danger ok? She gets a bit…well, you remember how she is," Takato said frowning slightly before turning back towards his home.

"You coming or what?" He called out over his shoulder.

Guilmon followed him into the front door and covered his ears at the loud voice that soon filled them.

"TAKATO! Where were you? It's almost ten o clock and you never even called in!"

"_Takato's mom sounds like an angry Monocromon. But Renamon said to help him if I can…but I can't do anything about her…except get his dad!"_

Watching his Tamer stand up against the one thing they both thought was scarier than Rika when she was angry, Guilmon made a B-line for her husband.

Once he was sure that the others were no longer paying attention to them, Guilmon tugged on the man's leg.

"Huh? Guilmon? Is something wrong?"

Guilmon nodded his head.

"I don't know what it is, but Renamon said that I had to help Takato any way I could. But I think Mie is a Mega, Takatomon is still just a rookie. Can't you help him?"

Takehiro got a confused look on his face.

"I'm not really sure what _is_ going on, so I'm not really sure that I can help Guilmon. What happened? If I knew what was going on I might be able to do something, but I need something to work with."

Guilmon thought for a minute before responding.

"Takato was happy, now he's sad again. Renamon said she knows why, but she won't talk to me unless Rika is asleep."

The older man's face lit up for a moment, but before he could say anything, a new voice silenced the room.

"Excuse me, Miss Matsuki?"

Takehiro looked at Rika, then at his wife, before finally shifting his gaze back to Guilmon.

"You said that Renamon _knows_, are you sure?"

Guilmon nodded his head in response.

"And if Rika sleeps here, Renamon will be here too I assume," Takehiro asked carefully.

Again, Guilmon nodded.

Placing one hand on Guilmon's shoulder, Takehiro's face became serious for a moment before it melted into a smile, but Guilmon could tell just by the man's scent that it was fake.

The two looked back to the others just in time to catch the end of the discussion.

"I am…fine. I just need to rest for a little while," Renamon said tiredly.

"I understand, how long do you need, and hour? Two?" Mie asked quickly.

Guilmon saw the fake smile on Takehiro's face fall slightly, but before they could do anything to help the situation, someone else did for them.

The two watched as Renamon lifted her arm to shake in dismissal, only to sway for a moment before leaning heavily against the counter, before slipping slightly and gripping it with both arms to prop herself up.

"I..am…sorry, but I think that…I think that I might need a bit longer than that."

Guilmon blinked in confusion, but he noticed that Takehiro's smile had come back, and it was no longer forced. He actually seemed to be enjoying the little act.

"Mom, me and Guilmon found them a few blocks from here. During the fight she was dedigivolved, I saw it with my own eyes. The only time that happens is if they're caught off guard, or if they're completely exhausted."

"Well….we don't have much room Takato, you know that," his mother said casting a sideways glace at Rika, that confused Guilmon.

"It's ok mom. I can sleep on the couch, and I bet our carpet is softer than the hideouts concrete floor," Takato offered, hinting at Guilmon.

"Guilmon, I want you to talk to Renamon. If she does know something, anything, I want for you to find out, ok?" Takehiro whispered.

Guilmon nodded, then watched Takehiro step forward and raised his hand to get the others attention.

"Takato, why don't you give me a hand in helping your friend upstairs? She looks like she's about to pass out."

Guilmon looked from Takato and Rika's startled, yet relieved faces to Renamon's amused smirk, then back to Takehiro. It took a minute, but he figured out that the man was doing what he could to help out with the situation.

Takato and Takehiro each slung one of Renamon's arms over their shoulders and led her towards the stairs.

Knowing that he now had a 'mission' to complete, Guilmon made his way to the kitchen. There was nothing more he could do to help Takato right now, and he was rather hungry. Though he still had difficulty telling time, he knew it had been more than just a few hours since last time he ate.

"_All I can do now is wait,"_ he thought sadly.

After a little time passed, Guilmon heard some noise coming from the dining area and knew that the others would be eating soon. He had his fill of day old bread, but sometimes Takato would give him extra.

Looking up, he was met with a very familiar sight, though usually it was him and not his Tamer that had this particular problem.

"_What is it Renamon always does when that happens to me? Oh! That's right!"_

Running to his choking Tamer, with his arm reeled back; Guilmon threw it forward and delivered a hard slap to Takato's back.

Sure enough, it had the exact same results as it did with him. Causing his Tamer to cough instead of choke.

"Sorry! I just," Takato was cut off by Rika.

"Almost choked to death on a piece of old noodle? Yeah, I can see that."

"_Terriermon was right, humans are strange."_ Guilmon thought as he watched the two interact a short while before returning to the bakery half of the kitchen. He could tell that he wouldn't be getting any handouts from Takato or Rika tonight.

Now, it wasn't that Guilmon was a glutton, far from it actually. He simply ate a lot because he burned it off so quickly. He was larger than most of the other Tamer's partners, and he grew the most when digivolving. So while Terriermon or Renamon only needed as much or a little more than a human most of the time, this was because they only doubled or tripled in size when they digivolved. (Not counting MegaGargomon.)

Guilmon on the other hand grew _ten times_ his Rookie forms size when he digivolved, so he required a proportionate amount of food.

After going through the day old pile, he found an open bag of flour, but after trying to take a sniff to figure out what it was, he found himself sneezing.

"Guilmon! Where are you boy?!"

Blinking, Guilmon looked up and smiled.

"_Takatomon is back!"_

"Here Takatomon! I'm here!" Guilmon shouted as he ran towards his Tamer.

"Guilmon, I told you to stay out of the cooking supplies. If you wanted something to eat, you could have just waited a minute for me, you know that," Takato said with a mock serious expression.

"_But he just got here? How could he know? Aw, I thought I got away this time."_

"I'm sorry Takatomon….how did you know?"

Laughing, Takato rubbed the flour from his partner's snout as he replied.

"Call it a hunch. Do you want a blanket or a pillow? We've got extra."

Guilmon walked in a circle in front of the couch three times before settling down and curling up into a ball.

"Here fine. Guilmon go nighty night," Guilmon said closing his eyes.

"Night Guilmon," Takato said softly, before adding. "Good night Rika _yawn_ sweet dreams."

"_Hmmm…would Renamon want to know about that?"_ Guilmon wondered before falling asleep.

" _Hmmm...I smell….I smell bread….Guilmon bread!"_

Opening his eyes, Guilmon focused on the specially baked bun that was being held a few inches from his head.

Knowing that despite how special Guilmon bread was, it was not able to fly on its own, Guilmon looked up to see a familiar clawed hand holding onto the bread roll.

Before he could say anything, Renamon held one finger to her mouth, and then pointed up at the couch. Following her pointing finger, Guilmon saw a sleeping Takato with a soft smile on his face.

"_Renamon wants Takato to stay asleep I guess,"_ he thought.

Getting up very carefully, Guilmon followed Renamon to the bakeries back door, (which was open) and stepped outside.

Looking up, Guilmon could see that the moon was very high, so he knew that it was late, probably close to midnight.

"Guilmon."

Turning towards the source of the voice, Guilmon saw Renamon leaning against the wall and holding out the Guilmon bread roll.

Smiling, he stepped forward and accepted the roll, but not before breaking off a piece and handing it back to her.

It was a custom that he had picked up a while back, that whenever one of his friends gave him something to eat, he would share some of it with them. It was his little extra special way of saying thank you.

The yellow fox chuckled as she accepted the small piece of bread.

"Renamon? What happened to make Takato so angry today?" Guilmon asked after he and Renamon had both finished their snack.

Renamon 's gaze was fixed on the moon above as she answered.

"I'm still not quite sure myself Guilmon. But I know that it has something to do with Rika becoming upset today. She was in no real danger, other than becoming a bit uncomfortable. Takato however seemed to be angered by the situation, more so than would warrant. Do you have any idea why that might be?"

Guilmon tiled his head slightly.

"Takato always gets angry if his friends are upset. It's the only time he ever gets angry," Guilmon answered.

"Hmmm so Takato loses his temper if his friends are in distress?" Renamon asked after a short pause.

Guilmon shook his head.

"Upset, not angry. Takato only gets angry if they are hurt, normal or inside."

Seeing Renamon lift an eyebrow, he continued.

"When they get hurt but not from being hit. Like when Jeri lost Leomon, or when IceDevimon wouldn't let go of Rika."

The fox closed her eyes and smiled gently.

"I think I understand what you are trying to say Guilmon." Her expression then became cold again as she looked down at him.

"Guilmon, did something happen between Takato and Jeri? Something that would hurt him badly?"

"_Oh no, not that."_ Guilmon turned away from Renamon before speaking.

"Takato said not to tell anyone, because it was not bad. But…"

Renamon dropped down in front of Guilmon and put both of her hands on his shoulders.

"Please Guilmon, this is very important. I need to know what happened."

"_I promised…I can't…"_

"Guilmon, what would hurt Takato more, for you to break your promise to him, or for him to find out that he was hurting one of his friends?"

Guilmon looked up in confusion at this.

"What do you mean?"

Renamon's grip on his shoulders tightened slightly.

"Guilmon, Takato is hurting Rika. Not physically, but like you said, hurting her without hitting her. As her partner, it is my job to protect her, but I can't do anything if I don't know what is happening. As much as it would hurt Takato to find out you broke his promise, I think that I know him well enough to know how he would feel if he found out he was hurting Rika."

"_If Takato hurt Rika, then Takato would be very angry when he found out."_

"Promise that it will help?" Guilmon asked quietly.

Renamon's expression became very somber before she answered.

"I can't promise that it will help, only that I can only do as much as I have information to go on. I've picked up bits and pieces here and there, but I'm still missing something, something that I think you know Guilmon. I can't promise that it will help, but I can promise that I will do everything in my power to help."

Seeing the honesty in her eyes, Guilmon nodded.

"Jeri…was sad. Very sad. She spent a lot of time with Takato, and he was happy. She was…still sad, but she was getting happier, and Takato was happier too. Then, after a long time, she got happy again, but then Takato got sad."

"Can you tell me why Guilmon? Did something happen between them? Did Takato or Jeri do or say something to change that?" Renamon asked, seemingly zeroing in on something in particular.

Guilmon nodded before becoming silent.

"Guilmon, please?"

Looking up at his friend with drooping ears and a sad expression, Guilmon spoke.

"Jeri said, that Takato was like family."

Renamon's expression went from focused to completely confused.

"Like family? And that made him sad?" Renamon asked with an odd tone.

Guilmon nodded again. "Jeri said, Takato was always there for her, that Takato always protected her, that Takato would always be there for her. Then Jeri thank you being a brother to her."

After a short period of silence passed, Guilmon spoke again.

"Renamon, why would Takato be happy to have me for a brother, but sad to have Jeri for a sister?"

Renamon was silent for several moments before shaking her head.

"I'm not sure Guilmon. Rika herself calls me her sister, and I call her the same, but she's never been saddened by this. I'm afraid there is still much that I do not understand about humans. But at least I have something to go on now. Thank you Guilmon," Renamon said before looking back up at the moon.

Walking towards the slightly open door, Guilmon stopped and looked back.

"Renamon, Takato was happy today. I pretended to be asleep, just like you told me too, and he was happy when he came with Rika. Do you know why?"

Renamon's expression went from deep thought to slightly amused.

"As I said Guilmon, there are still many things that I do not understand about humans. But, as far as I can tell, it had something to do with Rika's being there. What, I'm not exactly sure, but I promise that I will try to figure it out ok?"

Nodding, Guilmon went back inside and curled up on the floor as close to his Tamer as he could get.

"_I hope Renamon can help. I don't want Takatomon to be sad again, like when Jeri went back home. I want him to stay happy, like when Rika was playing with him today in the hideout,"_ Guilmon thought before drifting back to sleep.

End Chapter 3

AN: And there you have it. A few more pieces of the puzzle, but not quite the whole picture. Next chapter will be the last one for this story, and then I'll have a one shot to follow it. I might in the future write a small story about what happened the following day, (remember, its Friday night now, and Rika stayed until late Sunday, so she was there an entire day) but it wont be for awhile. I might do one for Takato and Rika's 'date' that was mentioned at the end of A Valentines Day to Remember though. Thank you for reading, and please don't forget to review! They're what keep me going!

Till next time, Ja Ne!


	4. Her Purpose

Her Purpose

AN: Well, it's finally here. The last chapter of this little story of mine. Back when I first found this site, I never thought I'd be a writer, much less a writer that actually got good reviews lol. I want to thank all of you who have helped me get this far. I'm not going to list my reviewers, that's too much like blackmail to get more in my opinion, but you people know who you are. So to those who it concerns, Thank you. Now, onto the chapter. I know that some of you are probably fidgeting for me to get it over with and 'start the show' but I wanted to let you know I will not be 'revealing' _everything_ quite yet. Everything that has to do with what happened THIS NIGHT, yes, but not events that have already occurred, they will be in future works. So, without further Audi, I present the fourth and final chapter! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon, I own a DVD set of it now (03, the best season ever) but that's it. Digimon and its characters are the property of Bandi Namco Entertainment.

This chapter is dedicated to my reviewers for chapter's one through three, it is thanks to you guys/girls that I managed to finish this story!

Renamon watched as her Tamer paced back and forth across the floor of the unfinished building wearing her usual neutral expression. This was not the first time her young companion had acted in such a way, but it still bothered her for some reason.

The two had become very close over the last few years, even to the point of referring to the other as their sister when among close friends. If Rika had a problem, she knew that she could always turn to Renamon for a listening ear at any time. But on rare occasions such as this, she would bottle up for a short period of time, then act as though nothing had happened and whatever the matter had been was forgotten. And while the events that lead up to these short bouts of 'old' Rika returning varied, they did have one common thread between them.

Takato

The boy was an enigma to the yellow fox. Starting out as a rather…poor Tamer, he had learned and adapted to the lifestyle almost as quickly as Rika had herself. Going from being unable to fight a fellow Rookie level such as herself, to fighting and defeating a Champion level in only days, eventually even taking out a Mega on one occasion without Digivolving.

Then there were the changes he had caused to her Tamer. Almost immediately after meeting the boy she had started to change. For the first time that Renamon could remember since meeting her Tamer, Rika actually second guessed herself, her motives, and her beliefs. Before then, never, but after, it began happening more and more frequently. With each passing meeting between the two, she would change a little more.

Renamon smirked.

"_Were it not for his influence, I doubt that I would have been able to Digivolve and save Rika from Dokugumon."_

But that smirk quickly disappeared.

"_Rika was…happy…for the first time. Because of him…but now…what has happened? Ever since Takato and Jeri became closer, Rika has become increasingly more like her old self. Seiko said that friends would help make Rika happier, and it did for a time. But why would it have the opposite effect now? It makes no sense."_

"Ugh, where is he? Don't tell me he got lost just trying to get to his own house," Rika groaned in annoyance.

"_And yet, even now she is not angry with him. I know that this is somehow his fault. Aside from Seiko and her mother, no one else has the power to affect her to this degree. But if he is to blame, then why does she not hold him responsible?"_

_Thunk thunk thunk_

"He is getting close Rika, I can hear him now," Renamon said as she narrowed her gaze towards the corner he was about to come around.

Seeing Rika's confused expression, she elaborated.

"Gallantmon's armor is not exactly suited for stealth, nor was it designed with speed in mind," she replied offhandedly.

Rika's eyebrow rose even further and was accompanied by a small smirk.

"Renamon, was that a joke?"

"_A joke? Was it a joke? I was only pointing out that Gallantmon is not exactly quiet when he runs…but why did I say it in a way Impmon or Terriermon would have?"_

She was about to answer when she found herself cut off.

"**Ok, here is good,"** Gallantmon said stepping around the corner and nearly knocking Rika to the ground.

"Hey! Watch it Gogglehead!"

"**Huh? Oh, sorry Rika!"**

A bright red flash filled the area for a brief second before fading into nothingness, leaving behind a somewhat confused red dinosaur and a very frightened teen in its place.

Renamon's eye narrowed at the boy momentarily before softening.

"_It was an accident, nothing more. Still, I wonder why Takato looks so frightened."_

"What took you so long? We've been waiting out here for almost ten minutes!" Rika Hissed.

Renamon watched the boy closely for anything that would hint at his current level of distress.

"_Something, is not right here."_

There

The sudden shift the boy's eyes took from Rika's face to his home before snapping back to her face. The entire action was nearly covered by a single blink, but to Renamon's trained eyes it might as well have been a lighthouse.

"_He is…afraid of her being here. But why? Rika has been here many times before, what makes this time different?"_

"S-sorry Rika, but we, we got a little turned around. It's not like I could just run down the sidewalk or across the street." Takato defended.

Renamon caught Guilmon's questioning glance, but shook her head softly.

"_And I still need to speak with Guilmon. He is probably still worried about his Tamer from what happened this afternoon."_

"How'd you get here so fast anyway? Renamon poof you the whole way?"

Blinking at hearing her name, Renamon quickly went over the conversation she had only halfway been listening to before stepping forward and allowing the light to reveal her presence.

"No, I have not used Kohenkyo since before the battle with the MetalMamamon. Rika ran on her own, while I used the rooftops to avoid drawing attention to myself," she answered honestly.

Seeing the boys surprised expression, she had a sneaking suspicion that things were about to turn downhill, and if his past record was any indication, it would be very fast and probably very ugly.

"You mean you ran the entire way? All the way from the park, to my place?"

Rika nodded with her smirk still in place, even widening slightly.

"And you're perfectly fine? You don't feel like, dropping dead or coughing up a lung?" Takao asked suspiciously.

Renamon had to resist the urge to smash her palm into her face.

"_Why does he never learn? I know he is not stupid, but does he ever once think about what he is about to say before speaking?"_ Renamon thought before groaning inwardly.

Of course, Rika's face changed back into her annoyed scowl. It was not quite as bad as it had been in the past, but Renamon noticed that it seemed to be regaining its former strength each time she used it.

"_Four years of work is falling apart at the seams and all I can do is watch,"_ Renamon thought ruefully.

"What? You don't think I could do it just because I'm a girl?" She asked accusingly.

Takato raised his hands in defense.

"No! No! Nothing like that! I was just surprised, that's all….You're in really good shape."

Renamon watched as her Tamer's cheeks turned a pale shade of pink after turning away from the goggle wearing boy.

"_I don't understand. Why would Rika be embarrassed by his compliment? She said herself that she wanted him to notice her more; it's why she started her morning exercise routine in the first place,"_ Renamon thought to herself.

She knew that there was still much about humans that she did not quite understand, but for someone to be embarrassed when they received the desired outcome of an event made absolutely no sense to her at all.

"So how do we explain this to your parents? It can't be too often that you have company stay overnight," Rika said as she walked towards the building.

"Hey! That's not true. Henry's been here a couple of times, and me Kazu and Kenta had a few video game tournaments that lasted through till morning. Even Jeri stayed over the night after we took down the D-Reaper."

Rika stopped in her tracks and spun to face the boy with a glare.

Renamon's eyes widened as the pieces started to fit together.

"_Rika is jealous of Takato spending time with Jeri! Of course! The reason she has been acting the way she did before she met Takato, is because he hasn't been around her as much as he used to!"_

Renamon knew full well how powerful the influence one person could have over another was. The entire group of Tamer's was proof of that. Before meeting Takato, Rika had been cold, unforgiving, and was extremely emotionally guarded, even towards her family. Likewise, before meeting Rika, Takato lacked the self confidence and assertiveness that most knew him by now.

"_It's like a cycle. Without her friend's presence, Rika is slowly turning back into her old self, but without Takato, she has no reason to even interact with any of the others. If this continues for much longer, all of their hard work will be for nothing. I will not allow Rika to become that again!"_

Knowing that things were about to take a turn for the worst, Renamon stepped in.

"_I need to stop this before the damage worsens, but to do that, I need Takato."_

Looking up, Renamon pulled herself and Guilmon into her 'between' realm. As long as they were here, time would stand still, and no one on the outside could hear them speak.

" _Rika argues more with Takato than she does with Ryo,"_ Renamon baited, trying to see if Guilmon knew anything from Takato's perspective.

Guilmon looked up at Renamon before blinking, and then looked around for several seconds. Once he figured out what was happening, he spoke.

"_Renamon?"_

"_Yes Guilmon?"_

Guilmon smiled. _"Can we talk now Renamon? I'm worried about Takato."_

Renamon shook her head before responding. _"Not yet Guilmon. After they are asleep then we can speak, but not any sooner. Until then, help Takato in any way you can without drawing too much attention to yourself. Is that clear?"_ Renamon 'thought spoke' since in here telepathy was possible. She could sense Guilmon's concerns, and unfortunately that her suspicions were true, that something had indeed come between Takato and Rika's friendship, but whatever it was, Guilmon either didn't know or didn't understand what is was.

Pulling herself and Guilmon out from her 'between' realm, Reanmon sighed internally.

"_I need more information if I'm going to put an end to this. I wasn't strong enough to pull Rika out of it when we first met, but I'll be deleted before I allow her to become like that again,"_ Renamon thought as she focused her eyes on the 'key' so to speak. Both the problem and the solution.

"Oh? And let me guess, Mr. Perfect spends every weekend here too right?" Rika asked harshly.

"I..uh…no. Ryo's never even been here before. At least I don't think he has. You two are the only ones that haven't….well, unless you count Suzie, Ai and Mako, they haven't either, but they have stopped by to pick up bread with their parents a few times in the," Rika cut him off.

"Look, I'm _really_, really tired. I haven't eaten anything since lunch, and I just want to call it a night. So, could you please cut the useless chit chat and get this over with?" Rika asked as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

"_Hmm, even though he is not aware that it is his absence that is causing her to act like this, he is still hurt by her words. So his withdrawing from her is not intentional. But if that is true, why has he removed himself from her in the first place?"_

After the Locomon incident, the two had become very close. For many months they would be together for days on in 'hanging out' as Rika had put it. Sure, every now and then he would disappear for a while, but never for any longer than a few days or a week at most. But several months ago, that had changed.

They never 'hung out' anymore, and they would rarely speak to one another, even when with the other Tamers.

Make no mistake, Rika was very brave, and there were few things that could frighten her, but she was still learning how to interact with others. While she was perfectly capable of carrying conversations for lengthy periods of time, she still had difficulty actually starting them with other people. So, with the removal of the one that usually started speaking to her, Rika had become increasingly quiet, and cold towards the others.

She was brought out of her musings by Takato's voice.

"Sorry about that. I guess I got a bit carried away," he said before giving Renamon the once over.

"Can you…uhh…can you pretend that you were hurt? Or that you're tired?"

"_Pretend that I am injured? That should be easy enough."_

Before she could voice this thought however, Rika cut her off.

"Just act like you would after being around Terriermon all day."

"_Act like I would after being around Terriermon all day? What would be wrong with…oh."_

Renamon had to suppress the urge to shudder. Several weeks ago, Suzie had given him a joke book, and while at first it had not been too bad, it had quickly become unbearable after he had discovered the horror that is the Knock Knock Joke.

"_And he doesn't even bother reading more from the book! It's just the same joke over and over. And it wasn't even funny the first time!"_

So caught up in her memories, Renamon failed to take note of how her posture slumped and sagged to the point of looking like a person who had been tortured for weeks on end.

"That good enough?" Rika asked with a small grin.

Takato snickered before nodding. "Yeah, she looks like she went ten rounds with Beezlemon."

"_I would prefer to go ten rounds with Beezlemon,"_ Renamon thought with a shudder.

"Uh, Gogglehead, we just got back from a big battle remember? Can you act at least a little tired?" Rika pointed out.

Renamon watched as Takato pulled his shirt out a bit then ruffled his hair. It took only a few seconds, but she couldn't help but notice the way he went about it.

"_As quickly as he did that, there is no way that he just came up with it. He has done this before, probably many times in fact. I wonder why?"_

"Just don't tell my mom we were in any danger ok? She gets a bit…well, you remember how she is," Takato said frowning slightly before turning back towards his home.

"You coming or what?" Takato called out over his shoulder.

Again, Renamon caught that worried shift in his eyes. Even though he was looking over his shoulder when he called out to them, his eyes had jumped from Rika, to his home, and then back again to Rika.

"_Why is Takato so nervous about Rika being inside of his home? He never acts this way when we meet here with the other Tamers. The only difference between those times and now is that the others are not here, just Rika…"_

Renamon felt something. She wasn't sure what it was at the time, but it was there. A clue to what was happening, and now she had the opportunity to investigate it.

"_That won't matter at all though if Rika forces him further away from her. I must speak to her."_

"Come on Renamon," Rika said before feeling a paw come to rest on her shoulder.

"Something wrong?" She asked.

Renamon shook her head. "No, nothing is wrong Rika, but you might want to give him….a little break. He did open up his home to us for the night, and has offered you safe haven from tomorrow, has he not?" Renamon stated.

"Safe haven? Renamon, it's not like I'm being hunted or anything. Besides, you heard him yourself. Everyone else has already spent the night here before, and I've been here plenty of times before. It's no big deal."

"_I think it is a much larger deal than you realize,"_ Renamon thought as she remembered the worried expression on the boys face.

"Maybe, maybe not. Just remember, he offered, and you accepted. What you said about being here before is true, but keep in mind that this is the first time you were ever _invited_," Renamon stressed on the invitation part, as it was the only difference she could pick up on at the moment.

Shrugging her shoulders, Rika walked towards the bakery with Renamon in tow.

"Really? Then where is she? If what you're saying is true then why are you by yourself? I told you that dinner is at eight o'clock unless there is an emergency!"

"Mom! I'm telling you, it's true!"

"Excuse me, Miss Matsuki?"

Renamon quickly took in the environment and tried to gauge the situation as best she could.

"_Takato seems to be having trouble convincing his mother about something, but where is…ah, I see. Very clever Guilmon. Use the distraction to speak with Takato's father without being noticed. If Guilmon thinks Mr. Matsuki can be convinced to help us, then I need to keep Takato's mother from noticing them."_

"And a little hungry," Rika said clutching her stomach.

The older woman smiled warmly before turning to Renamon.

"What about you? Are you ok?"

"_I need to make it seem that I am very weak for this to work. Perhaps if I were to imitate the people from one of the television shows Seiko watches?"_

Renamon nodded her head slowly before speaking.

"I am…fine. I just need to rest for a little while."

"I understand, how long do you need, and hour? Two?"

"_Here it goes, I hope I am doing this correctly,"_ Renamon thought before taking a deep breath.

Lifting her arm to make it look as though she was going to dismiss the idea, Renamon carefully gauged the distance between herself and the kitchen counter before stumbling forward and gripping the ends with her paws.

"I..am…sorry, but I think that…I think that I might need a bit longer than that," she said weakly.

"_I owe this one to you Seiko,"_ Renamon though before 'quaking' her legs for added effect.

"Mom, me and Guilmon found them a few blocks from here. During the fight she was dedigivolved, I saw it with my own eyes. The only time that happens is if they're caught off guard, or if they're completely exhausted," Takato spoke up, adding to the 'act' in his own way.

"Well….we don't have much room Takato, you know that," Mie said with a serious tone.

Renamon's eyes narrowed at the woman's tone.

"_It almost sounds like she blames Rika for something…or suspects she is behind something…but what?"_

"It's ok mom. I can sleep on the couch, and I bet our carpet is softer than the hideouts concrete floor," Takato offered.

"_We need help, come on Guilmon, please tell me you aren't just standing there watching."_

"Takato, why don't you give me a hand in helping your friend upstairs? She looks like she's about to pass out."

For a brief moment, genuine shock passed across Renamon's face before it returned to her usual passive face, with a touch of 'exhaustion' for added affect.

Hearing the boy's mother remain silent, Renamon couldn't help the small smirk that crossed her muzzle as she felt her arms being pulled up and onto a pair of strong shoulders.

She allowed a decent amount of her weight to be carried by them, but made sure that she was not simply 'dead weight' as the two guided her towards the stairs.

"_The rest is up to you Rika," _Renamon thought to herself.

As the trio reached the second flight of stairs, and after Renamon was sure that they were out of hearing range from the boys mother, she let out a relieved breath.

"Thank you…Mister Matsuki…for helping me."

The man shook his head before replying.

"Don't worry about it, and please, call me Takehiro. Mister Matsuki makes me feel old."

Renamon nodded. "I…apologize, Takehiro. Thank you…for allowing Rika and myself…to rest here."

The man waved her off with his free hand.

"I told you it's not a problem. Any friend of Takato's is welcome here anytime. I'm actually surprised that Rika never accepted any of our invitations before. Takato talks about her and Henry all the time," Takehiro said absentmindedly.

Renamon's eyes widened as she immediately shifted herself, Takato and Takehiro to her 'between' realm.

The instant time stopped, she was flooded by various memories and thoughts coming from both the panicking boy and his father. The two were so engrossed with their thoughts that they didn't even realize what had happened.

"_What is this? It makes no sense,"_ Renamon thought to herself as she watched the memories fly past her.

She saw Takato's parents giving him the ok for a sleepover, which she remembered hearing about from Terriermon, but had thought only the boys were invited. This scene switched to one from a summer a few years back where he had been bored and his father suggested that he invite one of his friends over, though it struck her a bit odd that Rika's name had been mentioned first by the man.

These were just a few of the numerous memories that flashed before her like a movie. Though the times and circumstances were different each time, they had the same result.

Renamon was careful not to 'think' just watch what she saw to contemplate later. Right now she was gathering information, and could not risk getting caught.

By chance, she noticed Takato looking directly at her, but she paid no attention to it, she was to busy trying to memorize everything.

"_It's not anger…it almost looks like…pity? No, not pity, but close…disappointment?"_

Hearing the boy's thoughts, Renamon continued to ignore him. Parties, gatherings, breaks from school, they all continued to flash one after another through the last four years.

"_Why would Renamon be disappointed about me flaking out on asking Rika to spend the…this doesn't make any sense."_

Knowing that the other two were bound to notice things were amiss, Renamon tossed out a distraction, but at the same time, a hint and warning for the goggle wearing boy.

"I apologize Takehiro, but it was…merely a case of bad timing. I'm sure that…had Takato _asked_…at a more favorable time Rika _would_ have accepted," Renamon replied with a tired voice.

Takehiro 'hmmed' and Takato frowned as Renamon's stare continued to pierce through him.

Then, it hit her. She felt his emotions from those events.

Shame, disappointment, and, just as she had suspected, fear.

"_Just as I thought."_

Eye's wide, Takato looked back up at Renamon's face.

Knowing that she had almost been caught, Renamon returned the three to 'real time' but softened the glare she had been sending Takato.

"_He is afraid of something. But what? And why did I sense so much shame coming from him? Rika looks up to Takato, surly he must realize that by now. She respects him more than she does Ryo."_

Renamon's thoughts were brought to a halt when they reached a door at the top of the stairs.

Takehiro used his free hand to open the door, while Takato led the 'exhausted' Digimon inside his room.

Glancing up, Renamon caught sight of the artwork that lined the walls. Pictures of Guilmon and his various Digivolutions were to be expected, but she was stunned by some of the others that she saw.

"_For all his faults, he truly does love us. I don't think there is another person alive who can profess this much appreciation for my kind."_

"Do you think you can reach the top bunk, or is the bottom ok?" Takato asked, bringing Renamon out of her reverie.

Renamon looked down at the boy, and seemed to think for a moment before answering.

"_If I am on the top bed it will be more difficult to get up without making noise."_

"I…believe that…I would prefer the bottom bed. I do not…wish to be a burden," she stated.

Takato and Takehiro both let out a sigh of relief, causing her to chuckle lightly so only Takato could hear it.

Lying on her side, Renamon closed her eyes most of the way to make it look like she was sleeping, and watched as the father and son left the room and closed the door behind them.

"_I don't hear footsteps, so they must be talking, no need to risk getting caught."_

Renamon waited for about a minute before she heard a set of footsteps walk downstairs, then a second set of footsteps follow quickly behind it.

Counting to ten in her head for safe measure, Renamon slowly eased herself up and off the bed. She needed information. Something was wrong, and now she knew it for a fact. Tiny bits and clues had piqued her curiosity, but now she no longer suspected, she knew.

Moving with the silent grace that years of practice had given her across the room, Renamon first examined the boy's desk. She didn't have enough time to dig through it now, but she could at least go through what was on top.

She was disappointed to find nothing but a handful of sketches that were in various stages of completeness. One of Suzie riding on Antylamon's shoulder, another one of Beezlemon, though this one was of him riding the Behemoth.

Sighing, she was about to move towards the closet when she caught sight of a red and gold notebook peeking out from under the desk. It looked like it had been hidden hastily and had fallen out of the bottom shelf.

Picking up the book, Renamon waved it under her nose for a moment and picked up Takato's distinctive scent, but not his parents. She knew this meant that they probably didn't even know it existed, or else they would have at least touched it while cleaning.

Opening the notebook, Renamon's eyes widened.

There, on the front page was a fully colored illustration of Rika riding on her back as Kyubimon.

Though the sight was not strange in of itself, the sheer amount of detail that had been put into this single picture was far more than she had seen in any of the others that lined the walls.

Lacking 'normal' hands, she wasn't able to look at every page, but she was able to flip through the notebook and see a handful of them.

One was of herself and Rika relaxing by the Kio pond outside Rika's home, and another was of Sakuyamon standing back to back with Gallantmon fighting some unseen horde of enemies. Each was more detailed than the last, but they were all an obvious display of an artist pouring out their heart and soul.

"_But…why does he keep these hidden? Work like this should not be kept on a shelf, it should be displayed."_

Renamon tried to imagine how Rika would react if she were to see these, and the thought alone nearly made her take the notebook downstairs herself at that instant.

In the passing years, as the Tamers had grown, Rika had become a bit…self-conscious. She had grown several inches in height, and her figure had matured quite a bit, but she had expressed disappoint in her physical form more than once. She had kept these thoughts to herself of course; Renamon had only caught tiny pieces of Rika speaking to herself on the matter a few times.

What it boiled down to was, despite not voicing it, Rika had somehow come under the impression that she was unattractive, or at the very least, no one thought she was attractive.

Looking down at the last illustration in the notebook, Renamon knew for a fact that she could blast away that notion and banish it for all eternity.

"_But I still don't understand, why does he keep these hidden?"_

Hearing footsteps approaching, Renamon carefully placed the notebook where she had found it and returned to the bed. After she heard the footsteps continue however, she realized that it was Takehiro and Mie, not Rika and Takato.

Again, she carefully rose from the bed, trying to make as little sound as possible as she made her way towards the wall. Looking up, she spied an air vent that led to the adjoining room.

"_Perfect."_

"Honey, why are you being so hard on the girl? She hasn't done anything wrong."

Renamon heard the woman sigh.

"When I asked her what happened….her story was different than Takato's."

_Silence_

"That's it?"

"Takehiro, this is serious. Takato said that he was fighting when he came across Rika; Rika said that she was fighting when Takato found her. Don't you think it's a little suspicious that their stories don't match up?"

Renamon's breath hitched.

"No, I think you're looking too much into something when there is nothing there to see. From what you told me, they both said they fought three enemies then a fourth one came along. So the details aren't the same, it's not a big deal. Could you tell someone exactly what happened today with every batch of dough we made?"

"I….I know…I'm sorry…you're right. I'm just….I'm worried about him."

"_Here it is,"_ Renamon thought.

"I know Mie, I know," Takehiro said softly.

"Every since…ever since Jeri's last visit, he hasn't been the same….what if…what if Rika is taking advantage of him while he's like this?"

Renamon had to force herself to keep calm at hearing that remark. To insinuate that Rika would take advantage of anyone was foolish, but for her to take advantage of one of her friends?

"Mie, you know that's not true. Rika is one of Takato's closest friends. She and Henry were the first friends he made since Kazu and Kenta in the first grade remember?"

"I…know…but still."

Renamon was surprised to hear the man cut his wife off, something he had never done in the past.

"And I for one, am glad. She helped him honey, she helped him more than those two ever could have. She's the one that made him finally stand up for himself. You said it yourself that you wanted him to start acting his age, and he did. All it took was one little redhead to light a fire under him to get him going. I'd say she's been a better influence on him than he has on her."

"Takehiro! He's your own son!"

Renamon heard the man chuckle.

"Well it's true. After they met and she started hanging around Takato, she started acting more like him. Remember last year's victory party they threw? She looked like Kazu slouched down in the chair with her CD player. And I never thought I'd see the day that she would actually play a videogame when Takato first introduced her to us," Takehiro said teasingly.

Renamon smiled at those particular memories. They were among her favorites, as she was sure that they were her Tamers as well.

"But what about Jeri? She's."

"Still Takato's friend, and I don't think anything, including one of them dying will ever change that," Takehiro finished.

"But how can you be sure? Takato is."

"A growing boy who is going to be turning seventeen in a few months. We were younger then him when we first met remember?"

"I…I guess your right. I'm just worried about him. The last few weeks have been so hard on him, and if Rika."

"Mie, listen to me. You can not blame Jeri for how Takato's behavior. We don't even know what happened. But if a girl is what caused him to act like this, then a girl is the only thing that can snap him out of it," Takehiro said firmly.

"_Something must have happened between Takato and Jeri…but why would that cause him to avoid Rika?"_

Renamon's ears flinched as she heard the distinct sound of footsteps moving from downstairs.

Quickly, the yellow fox moved back to the bed and feigned sleep as the door opened.

As soon as the door opened, she was able to make out two distinct outlines through the slits of her eyes. One moved towards the closet and opened it while the other one seemed to be admiring the room's decorations.

"Where'd you find this? It must have cost you a year's worth of allowance," she heard Rika ask.

A second later, she heard Takato's voice.

"Huh? Oh that old thing? I did it last year. I showed it to everyone, remember? You and Ryo were going at it again…like always."

"_His tone is almost as bad as Rika's when she's talking about Takato and Jeri,"_ Renamon thought idly.

"You did this? You?"

Roughly a second passed before Renamon heard Takato chuckling.

"Yeah, well, I know my first couple of drawings were a bit rough."

_Snort_

"But I figured that if I really wanted to get into the illustrating business, you know, designing Digimon cards or maybe even work on the show if it's still running when I finish school, that I'd need to get better," Takato answered.

"So you decided to practice?"

"Yeah, I practice my butt off! I've been going through notebooks faster than mom could buy me new ones. I did all of these."

"_And the notebook I found was fairly new….I wonder if there are any others?"_

"Ah ha! Found you!" Takato exclaimed proudly.

"I found them! They haven't been worn in a while, but at least they're clean, I promise."

Renamon heard movement, and could see the two moving towards each other. One of the outlines (she assumed to be Takato) handed something to the other (which she guessed to be Rika).

Suddenly, the first one moved towards her and reached under where she was laying.

"_He seems to be very nervous about something, I can smell it coming from him in droves,"_ Renamon thought as the boy's head was less than six inches from her face.

"Oh, and uh, about the…uh..…you know, just go through here and take whatever you need; I don't think Jeri would mind."

"_Jeri? What does she have to do with this?"_

Silence filled the room for several moments before Rika's voice cut through it like a blade of ice.

"Why do you have a backpack full of Jeri's clothes in your room? Under your bed?"

"_Rika, she's….hurt? Why would her finding out that Jeri stayed here hurt her? She never had any problems with Jeri staying at her home, or staying at Jeri's. What makes Takato any different?"_ Renamon wondered.

Renamon heard Takato sigh, and felt a weigh on the opposite end of the bed. Not wanting to risk a repeat of the 'Guardramon Incident' Renmon quickly tucked her tail around her frame, and hoped that no one noticed it.

"Rika…what I'm about to tell you can never leave this room ok?"

For a moment, Renamon gave serious thought to dragging the two into her 'between' world, but decided against it. It was obvious from the boys tone that this was a subject that caused him a great deal of pain. So, for the sake of all he had done in the past for her Tamer, she settled for listening, and not 'observing' this time.

"After we beat the D-Reaper, Jeri…Jeri went through a lot, you know that right?"

"Yeah, she lost her partner, then was used as a container to bring the D-Reaper to our world, then got used as a puppet after it took over. But we got her out of there, well, you did," Rika answered matter of factly.

"_Please be careful Rika, I sense that this is not something to be taken lightly,"_ Renamon tried to force the thought onto her partner, and hoped for the best.

"Mostly true, but she was still messed up Rika. Her mind just….it almost slipped, even after everything turned out ok. She needed someone to keep her going; she needed someone to just…be there for her," Takato continued.

"And that was you. Yeah, yeah, I know. You think I-we didn't notice her clinging to your arm every day since then?" Rika replied with a small amount of annoyance.

"_No, Rika, you're pushing him away again! Don't do it!"_

"Rika, you have no idea what it was like for her. She almost...she almost gave up, several times after that. The reason she stuck so close to me was she had lost her will to keep going. She used it up when she broke free from the D-Reaper. Since then she's spent the night here every now and then, but she's been getting better."

"_So that's what Takehiro and Mie were talking about. I wonder why Jeri never told Rika about this? They seem to talk about just about everything else,"_ Renamon thought with a mild shudder.

"So what, you're going out now, big whoop. Damsel in distress gets her _gallant_ knight in shining armor, end of story."

"_Rika, please, don't do this to yourself,"_ Renamon pleaded with the Sovereigns, which of the four didn't matter to her right now, only that her Tamer, her closest friend in both worlds, whom had even taken to calling her a sister, not break the cord that was binding her to the boy no more than a foot away from her.

"Going out? What are you talking about? She's like a sister to me."

Renamon let out a breath of relief at the boys tone.

"Ok, so maybe I did…kind of have a crush on her, and maybe she had…a small one on me."

"_Crush…crush…I know that I've heard that word used in this context before…but where?"_

Renamon quickly gleaned through her memories and found what she was looking for.

_Flashback_

Rika had come down with the flu and was sleeping, while Renamon patrolled the Nonaka compound. She saw Takato enter through the front gate and followed him into the house from a discreet distance. Not that she didn't trust the boy, far from it. But with her Tamer ill, she was a bit more protective than usual.

A few moments later the boy left and waved.

About to return to her patrol, Renamon stopped when she heard Seiko and Rumiko's voices from the doorstep.

"Mom, you can't be serious, it's just a little crush, puppy love at most. They'll outgrow it then forget it was ever even there."

Leaning closer to the window, but still out of sight, Renamon heard Seiko's soft chuckle.

The same one she used every tine she was about to finish off some hapless soul in a game of Go, Shogi, Checkers, or Chess.

"I'm not quite so sure of that Rumiko. He's a nice boy, and has put up with quite a bit. Not too many boys his age are willing to go through what he does just to be her _friend_. Just give it time and we will see what happens."

_Flashback end_

"We just got too close you know. There's a point when you just know too much about someone, you know them too well, and I guess….I guess we crossed it while I was trying to help her pull herself back together," Takato said glumly.

"I…uh..."

"Forget about it. It's in the past right?" Takato said as he got up and moved.

"_I need to speak with someone that knows more about humans after all this is over. Maybe Impmon can provide the answers that I seek?"_

Renamon's finely tuned hearing picked up the sound of Rika's jean's unbuttoning and the rustle of cloth that usually came with her undressing, but going back, she couldn't recall ever hearing Takato leave the room.

Opening her eyes, it took Renamon less than half a heartbeat to find the boy.

He was standing at a slight angle from Rika staring at the small of her back and tops of her hips, but he didn't seem to be breathing. In fact, he looked like one of IceDevimon's 'trophy's' frozen to the spot.

"_If Rika knows he's here, then…"_ Looking up, the vulpine warrior saw Rika's face and tried to gauge it to see if she needed to take action.

First was surprise, then something else that lasted only a moment before she blinked, and finally seemed to lock up with her face turning bright red.

"Uh, Takato," Rika said softly.

"_She does not wish for him to see her, so he shall not,"_ Renamon thought before focusing on the boy.

could you…uh," Rika swallowed.

"_You are frightening her."_

Though it was not a major power, or anything that could be used on the field of battle, Renamon did in fact have the ability to issue weak hypnotic suggestions, though they only worked on those who were very weak or very stupid normally, in this case however, she was counting on something different.

Concern

The boy slowly moved his head towards Renamon, and she knew that it had worked. His attention was locked onto her, and though his face was still frozen with an expression of shock, she saw the flicker of pain that flashed across his eyes.

"_So it would hurt him to think that he is frightening her. This is becoming more and more interesting by the minute,"_ Renamon thought as she filed that little tidbit away for future examination.

Narrowing her eyes, Renamon gave the 'uh uh ah' expression with her raised hand.

The boy quickly blinked then shook his head.

"Oh, yeah, uh, I'll be down stairs…umm…goodnight," Takato said quickly before turning to leave.

"Hey I still need a towel! And a."

"Way ahead of you, I grabbed that on the way up, just check the closet across from the shower, that's where we keep everything else," Takato said before quickly shutting the door behind him.

Renamon lowered her arm and closed her eyes, processing what she had learned so far for the night.

A few moments later, after hearing her Tamer leave the room, Renamon decided to think back to what had caused all of this in the first place so she would have some idea of what to say to Guilmon.

"_I just wish they had chosen a place closer to a tree to eat, at least then I might have a better idea of what happened."_

She had seen the group exit the building and go to the back area along with the rest of their class, then spread out a large bed sheet and start eating. A few minutes after they had started, a boy from their class tried to offer Rika a stuffed animal of some sort. Rika waved him off and tried to go back to eating when another one came up, followed by another one, and another one. Soon there was an actual line leading up to her.

Renamon was about to see if her Tamer required assistance when her eyes focused on the nearby form of Takato. The boy shot up and positioned himself between Rika and the line like a human shield, and was visibly shaking. At first Renamon thought he was just cold because of the weather, but that notion died when she saw his clinched fists.

Knowing that Takato's anger was like a signal fire for Guilmon, she took off for the hideout to prevent him from causing a scene, and subsequently missed what had happened afterwards.

Hearing the door jiggle, Renamon focused on the door until it stopped and resumed her musings.

"_There are so many things at work here that I don't even know where to begin. What is a cause and what is a reaction to something else?"_

Renamon tried putting the various pieces together as she waited for her Tamer to return. It was frustrating to her though, like trying to put together a puzzle that was not only missing several key pieces, but she didn't even have a picture of the complete puzzle to know what she was trying to make.

A few minutes later she heard the door jiggle again, this time it ended with a clicking sound and opened.

Opening one eye, Renamon was able to see Rika facing Takato's backside. The boy seemed to have his eyes locked on something down the hall.

"Gogglehead?"

Renamon's ears perked at the girls tone.

"_She…is….happy? What happened? I thought she was just going to take a shower? Why is he even here?"_

"Hmm? Something wrong?"

"Gogglehead, look at me when I'm talking to you."

"_What is she up too?"_

Renamon watched as the boy slowly turned to face Rika before meeting her gaze.

"I'm not very good at this, but…thanks."

Renamon blinked.

"_Did Rika just thank Takato for something? What happened?"_

"That's it?"

Again, Renamon felt like face palming. Sometimes she wondered if her time would have been better spent giving Takato lessons on proper behavior in the human world than his Digimon partner.

"Yes, why? Were you expecting someth," before she could finish, the boy cut in.

"No! Absolutely not!"

Several seconds passed before Rika spoke.

"There is something else actually."

"Th-there is?" Takato stuttered.

Renamon's ears rose, trying to identify the thumping sound she was hearing. It almost sounded like Locomon's piston drives, but it was going ten times faster.

"_Is that…his heart? That can not be healthy for a human,"_ Renamon thought shaking her head,

"Yeah, something I almost forgot."

"_It's getting faster. Rika, what are you doing to him? Are you trying to make his heat explode?"_

"If you tell anyone about what happened here tonight, you'll find out firsthand just how I earned the title of Digimon Queen. Kapesh?" Rika threatened.

"Ka-ka-kapesh."

"_Well, it's slowing down a bit, but I still don't think it's healthy…" _Renamon thought.

"Oh, and Takato, you need to take a shower. You stink," she added before closing the door.

Renamon shook her head softly and chuckled. She knew that despite how they might have been acting towards each other in the last few weeks, that one small interchange was all it took for her to know that the foundation their friendship was built on had yet to crack in the slightest. The building on top might have been damaged so to say, but it wasn't in any danger of breaking or even bending in the foreseeable future.

"_I still need to speak to Guilmon though, if anyone would know what happened between Jeri and Takato, it would be him."_

As she waited, Renamon noticed that not only had her Tamer changed into sleeping clothes, but she had already climbed into the top bunk and was making herself comfortable. Seconds later, Renamon was able to make out slow, peaceful breathing coming from above her.

"_Rika never falls asleep that quickly. She usually stares up at the ceiling for at least an hour, and that's in her own home. And I know she never even falls asleep when she spends the night at Jeri's, so how could she fall asleep so quickly here?"_ Renamon wondered.

Waiting for several minutes to pass, Renamon again crawled out from the bottom bunk, and rose to her full height.

Looking down, she was met with a sight she had only seen on a few very rare occasions.

Rika, sound asleep with a peaceful smile on her face. It was not a large warm smile like Jeri's, but at the same time it was much larger that Rika's usual smirk.

It was an honest to Kami smile.

"_Relaxed…peaceful…Rika feels…safe here. But why?"_

Leaning closer, she watched her Tamer intently, but as far as she could tell, Rika was not exhausted, so she knew that was not the reason behind her falling asleep so quickly.

Adding this to her already large store of unanswered questions, Renamon tried to think of a simple answer, some common thread that they all shared that would explain everything, but as far as she could tell, no one thing would do. They all had gaps or missing pieces that prevented them from suitably filling in that blank spot.

After waiting for several hours, and once she was sure that everyone in the home was asleep, Renamon made her way to the room's window, quietly slid it open, and leapt down to the street below. Checking to make sure that the coast was clear, Renamon opened the back door (which she had jammed slightly to prevent it from closing all the way before Rika had arrived at the bakery) and entered.

It only took her a moment to find the 'feeding pile' for Guilmon, which consisted of everything that had not been sold that day, and picked up a Guilmon Bread roll before smirking.

"_I wonder if he can tell the difference between Guilmon Bread and a normal roll in his sleep…."_ Shaking her head, she made her way into the living room, where she found Guilmon asleep on the floor, and his Tamer on the couch above him.

"_That's strange. His smile….it's the same as Rika's."_ Filing that thought away for another day, Renamon leaned down in front of the red dinosaur and waved the roll under his snout.

Sure enough, seconds later his eyes opened and went upwards, following the bread roll to her paw, and then up her arm to her face.

Renamon, at seeing her friends beaming smile quickly held one finger to her mouth before pointing at Takato's sleeping form, silently telling him to keep quiet. She had questions that she knew the sleeping boy would not want answered, and, while normally she would have respected his privacy, this was a special case.

Rika's happiness was at stake, and that trumped any and all forms of respect or friendship as far as she was concerned. As she had told her Tamer so many years ago, all she wanted was for Rika to be happy, and right now, Takato was doing something that was taking away her happiness. She had no doubt that it was unintentional, as the boy certainly knew enough about Rika that he could hurt her worse than anyone outside of her family. But from what she knew of the boy, and because he himself seemed to be in a rather low mood for the past few weeks, she knew it was purely accidental.

"_If he didn't care for her as much as he did, there is no way he could have held onto her with one hand on Locomon."_ Renamon thought to herself.

Not that she saw him as weak, just that she knew how physically strong he was at the time (having seen him lose to Rika in several rounds of arm wrestling) and knew how much Rika weighed (from carrying her so often) and that there was no other way for him to overcome this difference without some form of emotional connection to her.

Rising from her crouch, Renamon walked out through the bakeries back door and leaned against the nearby wall waiting for Guilmon to arrive.

A few moments passed before she spotted his snout peek out from the opening, and take a few quick whiffs of the air.

"Guilmon," Renamon called out as she held out her 'offering'.

Carefully approaching her, Guilmon accepted the roll, and broke off a piece which he handed back to her.

_*Chuckle* "Some things never change,"_ Renamon thought as she took the piece he had offered and ate it in silence.

"Renamon? What happened to make Takato so angry today?" Guilmon asked after he and Renamon had both finished their snack.

Renamon 's gaze was fixed on the moon above as she answered.

"I'm still not quite sure myself Guilmon. But I know that it has something to do with Rika becoming upset today. She was in no real danger, other than becoming a bit uncomfortable. Takato however seemed to be angered by the situation, more so than would warrant. Do you have any idea why that might be?" Renamon asked carefully.

She watched as Guilmon tilted his head to the side, a small mannerism she knew that meant he was both thinking and trying to remember something at the same time.

"Takato always gets angry if his friends are upset. It's the only time he ever gets angry," Guilmon answered before looking up towards the moon.

"Hmmm so Takato loses his temper if his friends are in distress?" Renamon asked after a short pause.

She was surprised to see him shake his head.

"Upset, not angry. Takato only gets angry if they are hurt, normal or inside."

"_Hurt…inside?"_

"When they get hurt but not from being hit. Like when Jeri lost Leomon, or when IceDevimon wouldn't let go of Rika."

Flashes of what happened in the underground parking garage were followed by Icedevimon, then those concerning Locomon came to the front of her mind before being followed by the memory of Leomon's death, causing her to shudder.

"_If harming his friends emotionally causes that much of a response, I'm not sure I would want to see what would happen if they were hurt physically,"_ Renamon thought. But that led to another train of thought.

"_As terrible as his anger might be, it only happens on rare occasions…because it's only on rare occasions that anything can get by him to hurt his friends."_

The fox closed her eyes and smiled gently.

"I think I understand what you are trying to say Guilmon." Her expression then became cold again as she looked down at him.

"_Hurt inside, hurt emotionally…is that what happened to Jeri and Takato?"_

"Guilmon, did something happen between Takato and Jeri? Something that would hurt him badly?"

Seeing him turn his head away from her, Renamon knew that something had happened.

"Takato said not to tell anyone, because it was not bad. But…"

Renamon dropped down in front of Guilmon and put both of her hands on his shoulders.

"Please Guilmon, this is very important. I need to know what happened."

"_For Rika's sake, and possibly even Takato's I need to know what happened between them….wait a minute, that's it! Takato has always been protective of his friends, Rika and Jeri especially!"_

"Guilmon, what would hurt Takato more, for you to break your promise to him, or for him to find out that he was hurting one of his friends?"

Guilmon turned his gaze down before looking back up at Renamon.

"What do you mean?"

Renamon tightened her grip on his shoulders.

"Guilmon, Takato is hurting Rika. Not physically, but like you said, hurting her without hitting her. As her partner, it is my job to protect her, but I can't do anything if I don't know what is happening. As much as it would hurt Takato to find out you broke his promise, I think that I know him well enough to know how he would feel if he found out he was hurting Rika."

Watching his reaction through his eyes, Renamon knew that he was facing a difficult battle internally, and while she hated using this form of logic against her friend, Rika came first, just as she always had and always would to her.

"Promise that it will help?" Guilmon asked quietly.

"_I…I can't promise him that. It might not be fair what I am doing, but I will NOT lie to him."_

Renamon's expression became very somber before she answered.

"I can't promise that it will help, only that I can only do as much as I have information to go on. I've picked up bits and pieces here and there, but I'm still missing something, something that I think you know Guilmon. I can't promise that it will help, but I can promise that I will do everything in my power to help," she responded firmly.

"_I swear it Guilmon, I will do everything in my power to help your Tamer, but only after I am positive that Rika's happiness is no longer in danger."_

Renamon watched as Guilmon nodded his head, the closed his eyes as if he was watching a memory.

"Jeri…was sad. Very sad. She spent a lot of time with Takato, and he was happy. She was…still sad, but she was getting happier, and Takato was happier too. Then, after a long time, she got happy again, but then Takato got sad."

"_So Mie was correct after all, it was Jeri that caused Takato to become the way he has, and by extension, Rika. But what happened?"_

"Can you tell me why Guilmon? Did something happen between them? Did Takato or Jeri do or say something to change that?" Renamon asked carefully.

Guilmon nodded before becoming silent.

"Guilmon, please?"

Looking up at his friend with drooping ears and a sad expression, Guilmon spoke.

"Jeri said, that Takato was like family."

Renamon's expression went from focused to completely confused.

"_But family always makes a person happy, does it not?"_

Searching through her memories, Renamon was only able to come up with a single close match, and that was Rika's father, the one subject that was an absolute taboo when speaking with Rika unless your name was Takato Matsuki, and the date happened to be March 26th.

"_No…no that can't be it. Rika's father abandoned her, Jeri has not abandoned Takato, she still goes to school with him and they are still friends, Takehiro said so himself. So it must be something similar, but not exactly the same."_

"Like family? And that made him sad?" Renamon asked with an odd tone.

Guilmon nodded again. "Jeri said, Takato was always there for her, that Takato always protected her, that Takato would always be there for her. Then Jeri said thank you for being a brother to her."

After a short period of silence passed, Guilmon spoke again.

"Renamon, why would Takato be happy to have me for a brother, but sad to have Jeri for a sister?"

Renamon was silent for several moments before shaking her head.

"I'm not sure Guilmon. Rika herself calls me her sister, and I call her the same, but she's never been saddened by this. I'm afraid there is still much that I do not understand about humans. But at least I have something to go on now. Thank you Guilmon," Renamon said before looking back up at the moon.

"_Humans are so complicated. Takato, why is it that you had to be the one to influence Rika so strongly? Of all the people for Rika to meet, why did it have to be someone that is so different from her?"_

"Renamon, Takato was happy today. I pretended to be asleep, just like you told me too, and he was happy when he came with Rika. Do you know why?"

"_Why indeed. How would the two of them simply being in close proximity to each other have caused them to act as they had back when they were at their closest?"_

Renamon's expression went from deep thought to slightly amused as she met Guilmon's gaze.

"As I said Guilmon, there are still many things that I do not understand about humans. But, as far as I can tell, it had something to do with Rika's being there. What, I'm not exactly sure, but I promise that I will try to figure it out ok?"

"_Though it might take far longer than I had hoped…."_

Renamon saw Guilmon nod his head, and then reentered the house.

Letting out a sigh, Renamon took one last look at the moon before closing the door (which locked when shut) and then jumping back up to the tiny banister outside Takato's window.

"_I forgot to close the window after I left, I hope Rika didn't get too cold,"_ Renamon thought slightly worried as she reentered the room and closed the window behind her.

Making her way towards the bed, she decided to check on her Tamer one last time before going to sleep herself.

Having thought that the day's surprises had finally passed, Renamon found herself getting hit by one last curveball.

Since Renamon had left the window open when she left to speak to Guilmon, the room's temperature had dropped by several degrees. Rika, to keep warm had curled onto her side into a tight ball, and was clutching a pillow close to her stomach, nuzzling her face against it softly with the same gentle smile she had earlier, only it seemed to be slightly larger.

"_She looks like she's…holding someone?"_

Renamon leaned closer to her Tamer upon seeing her lips move slowly, as if she were whispering to someone.

"Ta….ka….to….."

Renamon's eyes widened.

End Chapter 4

End Story.

AN: Well? How'd I do? I know that I'm still horribly new to this, but I hope that I managed to at least entertain you with my little work here. To those of you that stuck with me through to the end, I thank you. Hopefully I managed to paint a half decent picture here for you. My idea was simple, take a picture, split it into four separate parts, and then try to make a complete picture by overlapping them. I wanted to show how easy it is to misunderstand or misinterpret someone's actions for various reasons.

Now, don't think that this is the end of my Digimon work, or this storyline. This story itself is complete, but I still have more left to write. For now, I want to finish collecting notes on season 03, and work a bit more on my other fics. Expect to see another oneshot or two in the near future, but nothing this big anytime soon.

Please, tell me what you thought, praise, condemnation, advice or just idle thoughts, they're all welcome. I'll try to respond to your reviews asap. At worst, it will be three or four days till I can respond.

Again, thank you for reading and thank you for your time.

Till next time, Ja Ne!


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